A team of researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the National Institutes of Health discovered that transplanting brain stem cells and treatment with a compound called phenserine may help treat Alzheimer's disease. Previously, it has been shown that brain stem cells transplanted into aged rats seemed to become functional neurons and improved age-associated memory loss, but not in the brains of Alzheimer's-model mice.

The research team treated Alzheimer's-model mice producing human APP with phenserine, which is known to reduce the amount of APP in the brain. The APP level in the brain of treated mice was reduced by up to 50 percent, which would provide optimal conditions for the brain stem cells to become neurons. Under this environment, the research team found that stem cells transplanted into the brain successfully produced neurons.

Sugaya is now investigating whether a combination of phenserine and his compound (NBI-18), which increases brain stem cells by 600 percent, could become another way to treat Alzheimer's. Increasing neurons may be important in improving brain function, especially in people with neurodegenerative diseases.

The study has been published in the July 24 edition of PNAS.

Image: Alzheimer plaques-Bielschowski stain, Credit: NeuropathologyWeb