A newly developed drug that helps protect the brain’s natural defenses is showing promise as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, according to a recent study by researchers at Case Western Reserve University and its hospital partners.
More than 55 million people around the world suffer from dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a condition that slowly destroys memory and brain function.
Right now, there is no cure, and current medications offer limited help.
But this new research takes a different approach—focusing not on brain cells themselves, but on something called the blood-brain barrier.
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a protective layer of cells that separates the brain from the bloodstream.
It allows helpful substances like oxygen and nutrients into the brain while keeping out harmful ones like bacteria and toxins.
In people with Alzheimer’s, the barrier often becomes damaged early in the disease, letting in things that cause brain inflammation and cell death.
In this study, researchers targeted an enzyme in the immune system called 15-PGDH, which is found in high amounts in the blood-brain barrier—especially in people and animals with Alzheimer’s, brain injuries, and aging.
The team discovered that this enzyme harms the barrier when it’s too active. So, they developed a drug called SW033291 to block it.
When they gave this drug to mice with Alzheimer’s-like symptoms, the results were impressive. The mice kept their memory and thinking skills, and their brain cells stayed healthy.
Most importantly, the blood-brain barrier remained intact and undamaged.
Dr. Andrew Pieper, one of the lead researchers and a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at Case Western Reserve, said the most exciting part of the findings was that protecting the blood-brain barrier seemed to prevent both brain damage and memory loss.
“The brains didn’t undergo neurodegeneration,” he said, “and cognition and memory capacity were completely preserved.”
The drug was originally developed for a completely different purpose—to help repair tissues after colitis and bone marrow damage. But researchers discovered it also works in the brain by calming inflammation and protecting the barrier.
Interestingly, the drug did not reduce amyloid, the sticky protein that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. That’s important because current Alzheimer’s drugs mainly try to clear amyloid, but don’t work very well and can have serious side effects. This new drug offers a fresh strategy that doesn’t rely on removing amyloid.
Even in mice with brain injuries, like concussions, the drug helped protect the brain when given up to 24 hours after the injury.
The researchers are hopeful that this treatment could be developed into a safe and effective way to help people with Alzheimer’s, traumatic brain injuries, and possibly other brain conditions.
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