Why in news?
JNCASR scientists have modified the structure of Berberine, a natural and cheap product similar to curcumin, available commercially, into Ber-D to use as an Alzheimer’s inhibitor.
Details
- Berberine is poorly soluble and toxic to cells, so they had to modify berberine to Ber-D, which is a soluble (aqueous), antioxidant.
- Ber-D was found to be a multifunctional inhibitor of multifaceted amyloid toxicity of Alzheimer’s disease.
- The multifunctional attributes make Ber-D a promising candidate for developing effective therapeutics to treat multifaceted toxicity of Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s Disease
- Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gradually worsens over time.
- It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia.
- The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events.
- The cause of Alzheimer’s disease is poorly understood, about 70% of the risk is believed to be inherited from a person’s parents, with many genes usually involved.
- Other risk factors include a history of head injuries, depression, and hypertension.
- No treatments stop or reverse its progression, though some may temporarily improve symptoms.
