哮喘藥可有效防治阿茲海默癥！

Scientists have used a mice model to reverse some of the most severe damage done to the brain by dementia - and they did this with a surprisingly old medication typically used for asthma.

醫(yī)藥學新發(fā)現(xiàn)的經典模式：一種哮喘藥物能夠有效減緩、甚至阻止俗稱老年癡呆的阿茲海默癥。

The discovery could open up the road for treatments that could restore memory and spatial impairment in people with conditions like Alzheimer's. While a human treatment is still some way off, the research shows one method we could use to retroactively treat the buildup of tau proteins, long thought to be a key factor in dementia.

該發(fā)現(xiàn)或開辟出一條全新的治療途徑，可以恢復阿茨海默癥患者的記憶力和空間認知能力受損的情況。雖然用于人類臨床治療還需一段時間，但現(xiàn)階段的研究表明，我們有了一種方法來解決tau蛋白積聚問題，這種蛋白長期以來被認為是引發(fā)老年癡呆的關鍵因素。

Key to the improvement was an asthma drug called zileuton (or Zyflo) that's been in use for 22 years. The team from Temple University in Philadelphia is highly optimistic, claiming that their findings could eventually improve the lives of millions of people with dementia.

關鍵性的藥物是原本用于治療哮喘的zileuton(或Zyflo)，該藥物投入臨床使用已經超過了22年。費城坦普爾大學的團隊非常樂觀，聲稱他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)最終會改善數百萬老年人的生活。

"We show that we can intervene after disease is established and pharmacologically rescue mice that have tau-induced memory deficits," says senior investigator Domenico Praticò.

高級研究員Domenico Praticò說：“我們可以在疾病癥狀出現(xiàn)后立刻開始干預。藥理實驗表明，我們挽救了那些人為誘導tau蛋白以至于出現(xiàn)記憶缺陷的小鼠。”

There's still plenty we don't know about diseases like Alzheimer's, but the evidence points to tangles of tau proteins blocking connections between neurons. Another protein, amyloid precursor protein (APP), is also thought to be involved.

目前尚不清楚該藥物對人類阿茲海默癥的療效如何，但有證據表明，正是tau蛋白阻礙了神經元之間的連接。此外另一種蛋白質，淀粉樣蛋白前體蛋白(APP)也被認為對老年癡呆負有責任。

In this study the scientists targeted inflammatory molecules called leukotrienes. Having found that leukotrienes cause damage to nerve cells as dementia develops, the team wanted to try blocking the formation of these molecules.

在這項研究中，科學家盯上了被稱為白三烯的炎癥分子。以往發(fā)現(xiàn)，隨著阿茲海默癥的惡化，白三烯會對神經細胞造成損傷。該團隊試圖阻止這些分子的形成。

That's where zileuton came in. It was given to one group of mice engineered to have similar dementia problems to 60-year-old humans with the condition, while another group of mice were given placebos instead.

這就是用到zileuton的地方。實驗設計中，科學家將人為造成神經損傷的白鼠分為兩組，一組作為對照組，另一組喂下zileuton。

After 16 weeks, treated mice were performing much better on maze tests than mice who hadn't received zileuton. The treated group was also found to have 90 percent fewer leukotrienes in their brains, and 50 percent fewer tau tangles.

16周后，吃過藥物的小鼠在迷宮測試中的表現(xiàn)比對照組的小鼠更好。在經過治療的實驗小鼠腦部，白三烯水平低出90%，異常tau蛋白水平低出50%，神經突觸幾乎沒有受到損害。

"It's really dramatic what we observed," Praticò told Stacey Burling at The Inquirer. "For the first time, we are showing that we can do something after the disease is established."

“實驗里，我們看到了戲劇性的歷史一幕，”Praticò對記者說，“這是第一次表明，我們確實能夠治療阿茲海默癥。”

In fact, the synapses of the mice given zileuton looked as healthy as normal mice after close analysis. It's almost as if this aspect of the dementia had been completely cleared up.

實際上，在經過仔細的檢驗后，服過藥的小鼠的突觸看起來與正常小鼠一樣健康。就好像完全治愈了一樣。

Before we get too excited, there are some limitations to consider. For example, these mice didn't have any beta-amyloid plaque build ups (caused by APP) in their brains, which are consistently found alongside tau plaques in human brains with dementia.

在我們過于激動之前，還需要考慮一些具體的情況。例如，白鼠的腦中沒有任何β-淀粉狀蛋白斑塊積聚(由APP引起)，如果要完美模仿人類的老年癡呆，阿茲海默患者腦中tau蛋白和β-淀粉狀蛋白斑塊可是應該同時出現(xiàn)的。

And while mice are often used in research for their genetic and biological similarity to humans, transferring treatments over from these animals can be difficult. Add to that the limits of our understanding about dementia, and there's still a lot of work to be done.

雖然實驗小鼠與人類在遺傳和生物學性狀方面具有相似性，但直接復制動物的治療過程可能是極度困難的。除此之外，我們對阿茲海默的了解也并不完善，未來還有很多工作要做。

Nevertheless, the fact that researchers were able to actually reverse some of the damage of dementia after it had taken hold is cause for celebration, because the condition isn't usually diagnosed in humans until the effects have already started.

盡管如此，研究人員能夠真切逆轉老年癡呆的后果，這一事實就值得慶賀，這就是前所未有的突破。

Another reason for optimism is that zileuton has already been approved as a safe drug, albeit with advisory warnings and potential side effects. But it should make it easier to set up a clinical trial, which the team of scientists wants to do next.

令人樂觀的另一個原因是zileuton早就被批準為用于臨床的安全藥物，雖然也有潛在的副作用。但它應該能夠更容易通過未來的安全測試。

"This is an old drug for a new disease," says Praticò. "The research could soon be translated to the clinic, to human patients with Alzheimer's disease."

“它是治療新型疾病的老藥，”Praticò說，“這項研究可以很快投入臨床，造福人類患者。”