FEEDING a simple sugar to mice with Huntington鈥檚 disease slows brain degeneration, reports Nobuyuki Nukina鈥檚 team at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Saitama, Japan.
The researchers fed a natural sugar called trehalose to mice genetically engineered to have a severe version of Huntington鈥檚 disease. The disease is caused by mutations in the gene for the huntingtin protein. The defective protein forms clumps that kill brain cells. At 12 weeks, the treated mice had a third fewer clumps in the parts of the brain that control movement than untreated mice (Nature Medicine, DOI: 10.1038/nm985). They also lived about 10 per cent longer and performed better on tests of balance and coordination.
Trehalose is non-toxic and the mice drank it without any persuasion. 鈥淭his is a big advantage,鈥� says Nukina. Lab tests suggest that trehalose stabilises the defective huntingtin protein. The sugar is best known for its ability to protect cells from drying or freezing, but it is not clear whether these properties are related.
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At the moment doctors can only treat the symptoms of Huntington鈥檚. But other drugs have also shown promise in mice and are entering trials in people.