Potential Target for Diabetes-Associated Alzheimer's Disease

A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience identified a protein that may play a role in the progression of Alzheimer's in type-2 diabetes, which could have ramifications for drug development, reports Medical Xpress . Although the origin of sporadic, late onset Alzheimer's is unknown, type-2-diabetes is connected to elevated Alzheimer's risk. The researchers found the caveolin-1 (Cav-1) protein is depleted in the temporal lobe of humans with diabetes and in diabetic mice, which triggers upregulation of amyloid precursor protein and b-amyloid levels. The restoration of Cav-1 levels in mice reduced Alzheimer's pathology and mitigated learning and memory deficits.