PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) has improved learning and memory in mice tested at Stanford University's Down Syndrome Research Center in California.
Although the drug was only given for 17 days, its effects lasted for up to two months after it was discontinued, and the authors are considering a clinical trial in human beings.
Craig Garner, Fabian Fernandez and colleagues found that, after they gave mice genetically engineered to develop Down syndrome 17 daily doses of PTZ in milk, they performed as well as their wild-type counterparts when asked to identify novel objects and navigate a maze that simulated difficulties faced by human children and adults with Down syndrome.
The authors said that they thought this occurred because PTZ blocks the action of a neurotransmitter called GABA that is overproduced in people with Down syndrome and inhibits their ability to learn. When the amount of GABA in the brain was brought into balance with other neurotransmitters, normal learning was possible.
"The treatment has remarkable potential," Garner said. "So many other drugs have been tried that had no effect at all. Our findings clearly open a new avenue for considering how cognitive dysfunction in individuals with Down syndrome might be treated."
A report on the study can be found in the advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience.
