J147: The Anti-aging Drug

A team of researchers at the Salk Institute of Biological Studies has been looking for effective candidates for combating Alzheimer's disease for awhile now.  Recently, they began trials for a drug known as J147 to determine if any effect at all would be observed on mice with Alzheimer's.  This drug is not normally used for Alzheimer's treatment, and was used in a more unique angle of combating Alzheimer's.  Professor David Schubert, who heads the Neurobiology Laboratory at Salk Institute and is the senior author of the study, said, "While most drugs developed in the past 20 years target the amyloid plaque deposits in the brain (which are a hallmark of the disease), none have proven effective in the clinic".  Essentially, the team was looking for different ways to try and affect Alzheimer's disease; they were trying to see if targeting old age would reduce Alzheimer's.

So the overall objective was to see if mice treated with J147 would exhibit characteristics of younger mice to combat Alzheimer's.  And it basically worked.

The older mice treated with J147 performed better on memory and other tests for cognition and also displayed more robust motor movements, healthier blood vessels in the brain, and other improved physiological features.  In addition, any aspects of Alzheimer's that were in the older mice diminished within their brains.  Secondly, it was evident that gene expression and metabolism in the older mice were very similar to younger mice.  This also included markers for increased energy metabolism, which reduced brain inflammation and reduced levels of oxidized fatty acids in the brain.

Although the study did show amazing results in mice, the only way to demonstrate the clinical relevance of the work is to move J147 into human clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease.  "If proven safe and effective for Alzheimer's, the apparent anti-aging effect of J147 would be a welcome benefit," added Schubert.  The team does plan on conducting human trials by next year, and hopefully we may just have an answer to Alzheimer's and even old age.

Here's the link to the article with a paper referenced as well:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151113051134.htm