Drugs reverse Alzheimer’s in trial tests

In a research that will bring hope to millions, scientists in the US have reported that they have successfully reversed the effects of Alzheimer’s with experimental drugs. The drugs target and boost the function of a newly pinpointed gene involved in the brain’s memory formation, BBC News website said on Thursday siting a report in the journal Nature. In mice, the treatment helped restore longterm memory and improve learning for new tasks.

The same drugs — HDAC inhibitors — are currently being tested to treat Huntington’s disease and are on the market to treat some cancers. They reshape the DNA scaffolding that supports and controls the expression of genes in the brain. The Alzheimer’s gene the drugs act upon, histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2), regulates the expression of a plethora of genes implicated in plasticity — the brain’s ability to change in response to experience — and memory formation.