New Drug Rapidly Repairs Age-Related Memory Loss, Improves Mood (newatlas.com) 84
A team of Canadian scientists has developed a fascinating new experimental drug that is purported to result in rapid improvements to both mood and memory following extensive animal testing. It's hoped the drug will move to human trials within the next two years. New Atlas reports: Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a key neurotransmitter, and when altered it can play a role in the development of everything from psychiatric conditions to cognitive degeneration. Benzodiazepines, such as Xanax or Valium, are a class of drugs well known to function by modulating the brain's GABA systems. This new research describes the development of several new molecules that are structurally based on benzodiazepines, but with small tweaks to enhance their ability to specifically target certain brain areas. The goal was to create a new therapeutic agent that can effectively combat age-related mood and memory alterations caused by disruptions in the GABA systems.
In animal tests the drug has been found to be remarkably effective, with old mice displaying rapid improvements in memory tests within an hour of administration, resulting in performance similar to that of young mice. Daily administration of the drug over two months was also seen to result in an actual structural regrowth of brain cells, returning their brains to a state that resembles a young animal. The new study was published in the journal Molecular Neuropsychiatry.
In animal tests the drug has been found to be remarkably effective, with old mice displaying rapid improvements in memory tests within an hour of administration, resulting in performance similar to that of young mice. Daily administration of the drug over two months was also seen to result in an actual structural regrowth of brain cells, returning their brains to a state that resembles a young animal. The new study was published in the journal Molecular Neuropsychiatry.
Awesome! (Score:4, Funny)
They've invented cocaine1
Re: In search of the perfect drug? (Score:1)
I mean... (Score:2)
Weed? Doesn't weed do this?
Re: I mean... (Score:2, Informative)
Weed improves mood in most people but causes short term and, with prolonged use, long term memory impairment.
The drug in the article is more or a neuro decongestant.
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Weed? Doesn't weed do this?
If you can't remember, try smoking more weed ... :-)
Re: I mean... (Score:2)
Surprises await us ... (Score:3)
Like, how long does it last, and, oh by the way, how much will they charge for a dose?
Re:Surprises await us ... (Score:4, Funny)
how much will they charge for a dose?
How much do you have?
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What were we talking about?
They say that memory is the second thing to go when you get older. I can't remember the first thing.
Getting old sux.
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You can't remember the first thing? I'll give you a hint: It's the thing that hurts now but didn't hurt when you were 30.
Re:Surprises await us ... (Score:5, Insightful)
Canadians, they'll practically give it away and a US company will swoop in with a similar patent and gouge everyone while burying anyone who tries to make the low cost version.
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Which reminds me; would someone put some flowers on Algernon's grave for me?
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You can have something similar right now, it is called phenibut. It is not very expensive.
Abstract (Score:5, Informative)
Here's the paper abstract:
Altered gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) function is consistently reported in psychiatric disorders, normal aging, and neurodegenerative disorders and reduced function of GABA interneurons is associated with both mood and cognitive symptoms. Benzodiazepines (BZ) have broad anxiolytic, but also sedative, anticonvulsant and amnesic effects, due to nonspecific GABA-A receptor (GABAA-R) targeting. Varying the profile of activity of BZs at GABAA-Rs is predicted to uncover additional therapeutic potential. We synthesized four novel imidazobenzodiazepine (IBZD) amide ligands and tested them for positive allosteric modulation at multiple α-GABAA-R (α-positive allosteric modulators), pharmacokinetic properties, as well as anxiolytic and antidepressant activities in adult mice. Efficacy at reversing stress-induced or age-related working memory deficits was assessed using a spontaneous alternation task. Diazepam (DZP) was used as a control. Three ligands (GL-II-73, GL-II-74, and GL-II-75) demonstrated adequate brain penetration and showed predictive anxiolytic and antidepressant efficacies. GL-II-73 and GL-II-75 significantly reversed stress-induced and age-related working memory deficits. In contrast, DZP displayed anxiolytic but no antidepressant effects or effects on working memory. We demonstrate distinct profiles of anxiolytic, antidepressant, and/or pro-cognitive activities of newly designed IBZD amide ligands, suggesting novel therapeutic potential for IBZD derivatives in depression and aging.
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AC Wrote:
Oh, sorry to hear that you're having trouble parsing the article, AC. Maybe you need one of these new ligands that will help you recover your brain power.
Oh holy cow! I've discovered the cure for Anonymous Coward Syndrome!
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Oh holy cow! I've discovered the cure for Anonymous Coward Syndrome!
The only cure for obnoxious ACs like him is to seal him in a barrel and drop him overboard.
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Double funny, because as science writing goes, this is good. Every sentence has a job, and does a job. No mealy mouthed phrasing. Round pegs in round holes, square pegs in square holes. Easily in the top quartile of Slashdot science summaries.
However, one nit: compared to the abstract someone else posted, they err in talking about "the" drug, when the experiment seems to have covered three related compounds, only two of which exhibited the vaunted memory-improvement profile.
Re:Abstract (Score:5, Informative)
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If this new drug helped to reverse the effects of long-term alcohol abuse, millions of people would benefit.
It might help your memory, but it won't help your liver ...
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Wait. Cops are allowed to take steroids?
Who is going to bust them for it?
Preprint or other article not behind a paywall (Score:5, Informative)
why is it someone invents a miracle drug (Score:2, Offtopic)
Re:why is it someone invents a miracle drug (Score:5, Interesting)
and then you never hear about it again, i bet the government and the financial elite buy it and then make it disappear so nobody can use it except them, leaving the wider world to just do without
Because most of the "miracle drug discoveries" reported are miraculous cures for cancer. And they get reported as miraculous cures for cancer because some researcher found out it kills cancer cells in a Petri dish. Media get all hyped up, people get all worked up, we get news articles "we are ont the verge of curing cancer" and so on. Well, you know what also kills cancer cells in a Petri dish? Sulphuric acid. Cyanide. Lye. Strychnine. Surgical spirit. Arsenic oxide. And so on. Then, when you administer your new "miracle drug" to mice, it turns out that it not only kills cancer cells but normal cells as well, and that's how your "miracle drug" disappears.
You have to realize that killing cancer cells in a Petri dish is trivial, it's actually getting them to grow at all in a Petri dish that's hard, most human tissues (and cancers derived from them) won't even do that, they will only grow in an organism, with the blood supply, extracellular matrix and so on. So those cancer cells on a Petri dish are barely making it as it is, and it takes very little to push them over the edge. And the collateral damage to the liver is not a concern in a Petri dish too.So, next time you hear about a miracle cure for cancer just think "wow, they discovered another sulphuric acid" to put things in the right perspecive.
And I can already tell you how this particular drug will disappear: it's beznodiazepine-based and it targets GABA, so it'll probably work like all other drugs in this category: it's going to be addictive and it's going to create resistance. Meaning that, at first it will be great, but over time you'll need higher and higher doses of it to create the same effect, then even to just get back to normal. And at some point the "get back to normal" dose you're going to need is going to be higher than the liver can handle and it becomes toxic. And then you're screwed.
And think of it: if you were an evil villain controlling the pharmas and the government from the shadows wouldn't you WANT the proles addicted to some substance that only you can make, can charge whatever you want for, and that actually makes them WORSE off in the long run? Thank goodness there ain't no evil shadow man, and the drug is going to be tightly regulated and used only sparingly. *If* it turns out to work as well on humans as on rats, which is a yet another huge chasm that many potential drugs fall into.
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why is it someone invents a miracle drug ... and then you never hear about it again
Because you hear about it when it's discovered, which is years before it's approved and goes into use - IF it looks good enough that somebody is going to drop tens of millions on getting it approved and IF it passes all the hurdles, like really doing what it looked like in the lab, and not giving you cancer, making your nose fall off, or your kids be born with no arms or legs.
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resembling a young animal? (Score:1)
Can we pick which young animal we will resemble?
None too soon (Score:2)
Quick, send some of this to every internet user, stat!
When they give the memory test to mice (Score:2)
is it multiple choice?
Yes. (Score:5, Informative)
https://med.stanford.edu/sbfnl... [stanford.edu]
Y Maze Spontaneous Alternation Test
Y Maze Spontaneous Alternation is a behavioral test for measuring the willingness of rodents to explore new environments. Rodents typically prefer to investigate a new arm of the maze rather than returning to one that was previously visited. Many parts of the brain--including the hippocampus, septum, basal forebrain, and prefrontal cortex--are involved in this task.
Testing occurs in a Y-shaped maze with three white, opaque plastic arms at a 120Â angle from each other. After introduction to the center of the maze, the animal is allowed to freely explore the three arms. Over the course of multiple arm entries, the subject should show a tendency to enter a less recently visited arm. The number of arm entries and the number of triads are recorded in order to calculate the percentage of alternation. An entry occurs when all four limbs are within the arm. This test is used to quantify cognitive deficits in transgenic strains of mice and evaluate novel chemical entities for their effects on cognition.
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Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
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Well... it's three roads for Rodent Frost.
Mice get dropped onto the "crossroads" between three paths, not two.
Quickly put Trump in a vat of it ASAP (Score:1)
And preferably hold his head under till the bubbles stop.
What a time to be alive ... if you are a mouse (Score:2)
When the rodents replace us, they'll look back on the age when Homo sapiens invested massive effort to make them immortal with some perplexity. Why did we do it?
.ca medicare (Score:2, Offtopic)
Don't worry, if you're in the USA you can't afford this drug. It's for the rest of the world only, because we have the greatest system in the world that nobody can afford.
Even fucking Rand Paul goes to Canada for health care.
One mouse, named Algernon, responded so well ... (Score:2)
GABA matters! At least for me... (Score:2)
I've been on my own GABA influencer journey and wanted to mention an already easy to get substance, at least outside of Russia where it is a prescription only substance, that I'm 99% sure many people take already with great effect. And that it also focuses on the same GABA alpha receptors like they mention targeting in the paper, though the paper's substance is attempting to be selective about where they trigger things. Most GABA alpha items are used for anxiety, at least when given out by prescription.
GABA is not safe to take (Score:2)
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Other way around. Roofies are an overdose of GABA triggering medicines to knock people out or make them happy/funny/compliant. Yes, too much of anything that normally makes you sleep seems like a bad idea. And again, I suggested being careful and researching anything you plan to ingest. Most sites I'd looked at said to start low/slow and see how you feel.
In the past GHB was one example of a "roofie". I actually wish I could find it legally/safely, as in safer/moderate doses it's more like "alcohol with
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Thanks. Nope, I actually have a pretty strong stomach normally (take tons of pills daily, empty stomach or not) so hadn't thought about taking it with food before.
I think simultaneous glutamine powder (just before bed) wasn't helping either (I've read muscles and our intestines can repair better with enough glutamine). Apparently we turn glutamine into glutamate, which is a stimulant in our brains...kept me awake a couple times much later than planned. Guessing it made me a little nauseous too.
Misleading title (Score:3, Insightful)
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Good luck getting access (Score:1)