(JP)Stem cells offer hopes for improving memory loss

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http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20020113p2a00m0fp010000c.html

 

Stem cells offer hopes for improving memory loss

 

Alzheimer's disease sufferers' plight could be

alleviated by stem cells, following an experiment by

Japanese researchers.

 

Transplantation of stem cells extracted from a rat's

germ into the brain of a rat with memory defects

improved its problems, the experiment has proved.

 

The discovery could open the way for curing

Alzheimer's disease that causes sufferers to become

senile, researchers say.

 

In the experiment, the research team led by Keio

University Prof. Hideyuki Okano and Kagawa Medical

School Prof. Shogo Nagao injected a toxin into a rat's

brain to prevent acetylcholine, a substance that

transmits information from nerve cells to the brain,

from being properly secreted, and thereby damaging its

memory.

 

As a result, the rat became unable to walk to a

destination that it had remembered. It also showed

other symptoms of memory defects.

 

The researchers then extracted stem cells from a

healthy rat's germ, developed them into nerve stem

cells and transplanted them into the brain of the rat

with memory defects. About a month later, the nerve

stem cells restored the rat's ability to secrete

acetylcholine and its memory returned to almost

normal.

 

The discovery made in the experiment is likely to help

in the development of a cure for Alzheimer's disease,

the researchers said, noting that acetylcholine

secretion disorders cause the illness. (Mainichi

Shimbun, Jan. 13, 2002)

 

 

 

 

 

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