Sanders-Brown Center researcher awarded grant to study Alzheimer’s prevention

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a five-year, $2.88 million grant to UK Sanders-Brown Center on Aging researcher Ai-Ling Lin to study a drug’s potential to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Lin, an assistant professor at the Sanders-Brown Center, hopes to demonstrate that low doses of Rapamycin, a drug commonly used in organ transplantation, can restore brain function and prevent memory loss. Rapamycin is commonly used to prevent rejection of a transplanted organ.

“We hope our research will demonstrate that Rapamycin prompts tangible benefit by preventing the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease,” Lin said.

Unique testing methods

Her study is unique in that it will also assess whether a relatively new imaging concept called multimodal MRI is effective in measuring the success of other potential treatments. mMRI uses traditional MRI plus another form of imaging (CT scan or PET scan, for example) to provide complementary information.

“We have two eyes for a reason. You can function with just one, but eyesight is improved when both eyes work well,” Lin said. “mMRI follows the same concept: multiple layers of data increase accuracy.”

Lin will be studying the drug in mice with the gene associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s. She will validate mMRI results with biological and behavioral tests to confirm the test’s accuracy.

A win-win

It will be a while before Lin’s research will be ready for human clinical trials, but mMRI as an alternative to other testing methods has the potential for speedy adoption, as the mMRI methods are readily available to be used in humans.

“Being able to test a drug and also a means of assessing other drugs in the future is truly exciting,” Lin said.

Linda Van Eldik, Sanders-Brown director, says that this latest grant is another important step in Sanders-Brown’s race against Alzheimer’s.

“As many as 1 in 5 people carry the Alzheimer’s gene APOE4, so the idea that a readily-available drug already demonstrated to be safe in humans might prevent what is arguably the most devastating and expensive disease in modern history is exciting,” said Van Eldik. “It’s a win-win for science and for the people it serves.”

Next steps:

• Alzheimer’s disease usually affects people who are 65 or older. If there’s a senior in your life, be aware of these signs and symptoms of the disease.