‘New approach’ to Alzheimer’s disease treatment revealed – it’s a gas

Breathe easy – Researchers say they may have found an innovative approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease.

There is no cure for the brain disorder, which affects more than 6 million Americans. Treatment progress has been slow because scientists do not fully understand what causes the complex disease.

Researchers are now looking at xenon – a colourless, odorless and tasteless gas that showed protective effects on the brain when inhaled by mice. A clinical trial at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston will begin in the coming months.

“One of the major limitations in the field of Alzheimer’s disease research and treatment is that it is extremely difficult to design drugs that can cross the blood-brain barrier – but xenon gas does. We look forward to seeing this new approach tested in humans,” said senior and co-corresponding study author Oleg Butovsky, a neuroscientist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Xenon is used in photography, medical imaging, nuclear power plants, anesthesia and even by climbers climbing Mount Everest because it promotes the production of red blood cells.

Butovsky’s study, published Wednesday, showed that mice with Alzheimer’s who inhaled xenon in a customized chamber had milder brain inflammation, less brain cell loss and better cognitive function while building their nests.

The key is that the gas triggered and enhanced a protective response from the mice’s microglia, the main and most prominent immune cells within the brain.

Microglia are essential for the proper functioning of the brain – they address potential threats such as infection, injury and cellular debris.

Microglial dysfunction is a critical component of Alzheimer’s, the study authors said, because damaged microglia contribute significantly to the brain inflammation and accumulation of amyloid beta plaques that are characteristic of the disease.

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia – it causes memory loss, confusion, thinking problems and behavioral changes.

Butovsky’s findings were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

His team is devising ways to use xenon gas more efficiently and exploring its potential for relieving multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease and eye conditions involving loss of neurons.

“If the clinical trial goes well, the possibilities for using xenon gas are great,” said study co-author Dr. Howard Weiner, principal investigator of the upcoming trial. “It could open the door to new treatments to help patients with neurological diseases.”