Brain's nicotine receptors may be target for Alzheimer's treatment

PARIS, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- The search for a method of preventing amyloid beta plaques in the brain linked to Alzheimer's disease has led researchers to one of the less healthy substances humans enjoy: Nicotine.

While nicotine is not being suggested as a method for preventing Alzheimer's disease, blocking receptors in the brain that respond to the substance prevented memory loss linked to the condition in mice, suggesting them as a target for treatment.

Nicotine has been shown in previous studies to benefit memory, though the downside of the substance -- addiction, early aging and other negative effects on the body -- outweigh potential benefits of consumption.

Nicotine receptors in the brain, also called acetylcholine receptors, are sensitive to neurotransmitters and are involved with functions of the nervous system, including voluntary movement, attention, sleep, anxiety and memory.

Investigating the early formation of amyloid beta plaques in the brain and how their build-up relates to memory, researchers at the Pasteur Institute looked to gain better understanding of how the plaques build up and the role of nicotine receptors in the process.

For the study, published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, researchers focused on the roll of the β2 subunit of the nicotinic receptor, one of five subunits involved with the receptor.

In mice with the subunit inactivated by blocking genes that code for it, the researchers found the rodents were protected from amyloid beta peptides and did not develop memory and cognitive issues linked to Alzheimer's disease.

"Characterizing this new therapeutic target will enable us to test molecules that are capable of blocking the β2 subunit," Dr. Uwe Maskos, a researchers in the Department of Neuroscience at the Pasteur Institute, said in a press release. "The aim is to find a therapeutic molecule that resembles nicotine but does not have the same harmful effects."