Life Science Weekly
Welcome to NewsRx!
Learn more about a six-week, no-risk free trial of Life Science Weekly
We're a pay-per-view site for premium content. If you'd like to purchase this article, it's only $3.00.
Alzheimer Disease
Healthy cleavage: How statins protect against AD
January 25th, 2005
Epidemiological studies suggest that statins, a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs, lower the risk for Alzheimer disease. How exactly statins and Alzheimer are connected is not known, but a study by Sam Gandy and colleagues now suggests a possible mechanism. Alzheimer disease is characterized by accumulation of amyloid deposits in the brain. These deposits are composed of amyloid-beta (A-beta) peptide, a protein fragment that is cleaved off from the amyloid precursor protein APP. APP can be cleaved in two different ways. Amyloidogenic ("amyloid generating") cleavage by an enzyme called beta-secretase yields "sticky" A-beta peptides that aggregate to...
Source: Life Science Weekly (2005-01-25)
|
