Rotten Egg Gas Could Guard Against Alzheimer's Disease
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Rotten Egg Gas Could Guard Against Alzheimer's Disease:
Typically characterized as poisonous, corrosive and smelling of rotten eggs, hydrogen sulfide's reputation may soon get a face-lift thanks to Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers. In experiments in mice, researchers have shown the foul-smelling gas may help protect aging brain cells against Alzheimer's disease. The discovery of the biochemical reactions that make this possible opens doors to the development of new drugs to combat neurodegenerative disease.
[...] Our new data firmly link aging, neurodegeneration and cell signaling using hydrogen sulfide and other gaseous molecules within the cell," says Bindu Paul, M.Sc., Ph.D., faculty research instructor in neuroscience in the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and lead corresponding author on the study.
[...] Behavioral tests on [mice genetically engineered to mimic human Alzheimer's disease] showed that hydrogen sulfide improved cognitive and motor function by 50% compared with mice that did not receive the injections. [...] Treated mice were able to better remember the locations of platform exits and appeared more physically active than their untreated counterparts with simulated Alzheimer's disease.
The results showed that the behavioral outcomes of Alzheimer's disease could be reversed by introducing hydrogen sulfide.
Journal Reference:
Daniel Giovinazzo, Biljana Bursac, Juan I. Sbodio, et al. Hydrogen sulfide is neuroprotective in Alzheimer's disease by sulfhydrating GSK3 and inhibiting Tau hyperphosphorylation [$], Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2017225118)
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