Indian scientists report novel way to tackle Alzheimer’s

The disease affects nearly 40 lakh Indians

Indian brain scientists have found a novel way to tackle the devastating Alzheimer’s disease, an illness of the brain that in one form or other, affects nearly 40 lakh Indians.

On the basis of successful laboratory results, scientists at the National Brain Research Centre, Manesar and doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi are set to start a clinical trial, which would not only check the efficacy of the therapy but eventually may also lead to early diagnosis for the disease.

Alzheimer’s disease – a neurodegenerative ailment in which brain cells die progressively - is commonly diagnosed by MRI scan or PET scan that picks up the disease at a much later stage. The NBRC scientists, on the other hand, perfected a method that allows early detection of the disease by picking up signatures from a few brain chemicals.

The MRI scan finds out the disease by measuring the size of the hippocampus that gets shrunk in Alzheimer’s patients. The more expensive PET scan, on the other hand, helps in the diagnosis after checking what parts of the brain are not receiving a particular type of chemical that is injected in Alzheimer’s patients before the scan.

"Our method that senses the presence of certain brain chemicals can identify early onset of the disease, giving more time to the doctors to manage it,” Pravat Mandal, a senior scientist at the NBRC and principal investigator of the research told DH.

The technique developed by the NBRC team with support from Manjari Tripathi, a professor of neurology at AIIMS would be put to test when they would start a clinical trial to check the efficacy of the glutathione – a common dietary supplement – against Alzheimer’s disease. There are previous studies hinting at glutathione’s protective role.

During the trial, the team will first check the glutathione level of the patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment – an early form of Alzheimer’s disease – as well as those having the full blown illness. They will subsequently be given the supplement and followed up for a year to check if there is any improvement.

The trial for which permissions from the Drugs Controller General of India have been obtained would examine the effectiveness of the therapy. “It would also generate evidence whether the brain chemical based screening tool can be used for early diagnosis of the disease,” he added.