Researchers turn to chimps for studies on Alzheimer’s

Kimberly Laferty, Gabi Harrison, and Adam Studer

Alzheimer’s affects millions of people worldwide and research for a cure is under way. Recently, researchers have begun to focus on chimpanzees, a close primate relative to humans, in hopes of using that information to treat Alzheimer’s.

Two researchers at Kent State have hope to prevent or to cure Alzheimer’s in different ways.

Gemma Casadesus Smith, an associate professor at Kent State, specializes in Alzheimer’s disease.

Casadesus Smith’s research does not focus on treatments, but rather preventing the illness before it occurs.  

“My work basically tries to understand how age-related aspects that are associated with AD development may cause AD,” Casadesus Smith said. “We study how reproductive senescence in women or metabolic dysfunction due to aging or poor diet predispose one to developing AD by trying to understand what the hormones involved in these processes due to cognitive function, neuroplasticity and/or neuroprotection as all of these are aspects affected in AD. “

These hormones are leptin known as the starvation hormone, and amylin which is insulin in the pancreas.

Alzheimer’s can occur as early as 20’s, but is caused by mutation (a mistake in the genetic code), according to Casadesus Smith. For these cases, the mistake in the gene makes a protein called amyloid beta.

Casadesus Smith said only 5% of cases are genetic and are restricted to specific families who are aware it could occur.

“They all know it already because there are lots of family members in their family that have acquired it really early compared to when AD is normally acquired which is 10% of cases at 70, and then rises as age increases to 50% at around 85 years of age,” Casadesus Smith said.

Alzheimer’s that happens after 65 is called sporadic (no genetic cause or yet to be discovered genetic cause), according to Casadesus Smith.

Though there is no cure, researchers have ideas on what causes Alzheimer’s. This ranges from poor eating habits to poor development causes, according to Casadesus Smith.  People with Mediterranean diets are least likely to develop Alzheimer’s. This is due to the high consumptions of olive oil and overall eating vegetables, and consuming protein.

“I wish I could be more hopeful but we are not even close to finding a cure,” Casadesus Smith said.  “AD is a hard disease to diagnose, once it’s visible to a clinician it may have been there for 10-15 years so to really determine whether treatments are effective at curing the disease, we have to be able to detect much earlier than we are right now.”

 

As the never ending search for a cure continues, researchers like Dr. Mary Ann Raghanti,  a biological anthropologist who serves as the chairperson of the anthropology department are participating in research being conducted on animals. More specifically Raghanti has participated in research on chimpanzees.

When the human brain is studied after death, plaques and tangles as well as neuron loss are discovered. Unlike in other primates that either experience plaques or tangles, chimpanzees experience both. They, like humans, will spontaneously develop both and develope the same characteristics that humans show.

“Studying chimpanzees is really opens up an avenue of investigation  because chimpanzees are so closely related to us and we don’t see any evidence of dramatic cognitive loss” said Raghanti.

Raghanti claims that there is something in the chimpanzee’s’ brain that either protects them and prevents them from cognitive loss or something in humans that makes us highly susceptible to cognitive loss. She went on to say that chimpanzees are the perfect animal to study because they are uniquely positioned because they are able to give us information that other species cannot.

 

Chimpanzees are not the only animal being tested on. Previously the typical lab mouse was being tested but the studies were falling short. The drug treatments that produce great results work in mice are having a hard time transitioning to find any clinical success in humans. The hope is continue research on chimpanzees rather than lab mice.

Raghanti states that her team is putting in grant proposals to continue research on the National Institute of Health, NIH, owned chimpanzees. Although legislation prevents any type of  invasive research she hopes to continue to collect the cognitive and behavioral data.

“Every year they’re [the NIH owned chimpanzees] knocked down for a physical health check, they collect serum and other parameters and we can use the leftover serum to try to look at these biomarkers. Then when the animals die naturally we can collect those brains,” said Raghanti, “It would be a matter of putting together a tremendous database, that’s really a longitudinal study.”

Raghanti hopes to be able to continue her research in order to further expand our knowledge of  Alzheimer’s and be able to translate the data into beneficial results for humans.

 

The study of chimpanzees is helping to advance the research for a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease

— Gabi. (@Gabish724) September 18, 2017

 

Researchers turn to chimpanzee’s for further research on Alzheimer’s. Check out the story at https://t.co/iGCfWVcki3 #JMCRPPf2017

— Kimberly Laferty (@KimberlyLaferty) September 19, 2017