A potential treatment for dementia could be designed on the back of new findings that show the benefits of reducing toxic gas levels in the brain.
The study analysed the impact of reducing the levels in the brain of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which is potentially harmful to neurons.
Researchers found that H2S was blocking the activity of some cells’ potassium channels, which allow electrically charged atoms to pass through.
This caused an increase in activity when these pathways were disrupted and researchers believe this overactivity is a cause of cell death.
Cells were taken from rat brains and the team of scientists from the universities of Reading, Leeds and John Hopkins charged them with an H2S donor molecule.
They were able to establish that this change in activity was controlled by the potassium channel after comparing it with mutated cells.
These findings could be significant in terms of developing dementia treatments, as these mutated channels have previously shown they can protect against the build up of toxic proteins.
This includes the amyloid beta protein, which has been found to build up in dementia patient’s brains causing damage to neurons.
Dr Mark Dallas, associate professor in neuroscience at the University of Reading, said: “this is an exciting finding as it gives us new insights about the role of hydrogen sulfide in various brain diseases.
“There has been growing interest in the effect of hydrogen sulfide on the brain and this study shows how important the implications of its build-up on proper brain functioning may be.
“We saw that hydrogen sulfide acts to disrupt the normal functioning of potassium channels. These channels regulate electrical activity across the connections between brain cells, and when these channels are blocked from working properly we see overexcitable brain cells which we believe is leading to nerve cell death.
“The implication for potential treatments is particularly exciting because finding drugs that target hydrogen sulfide production in our brains may have a host of benefits for diseases, and there are clear links between hydrogen sulfide build up and other warning signs for diseases such as Alzheimer’s.”
The paper – published in Scientific Reports – noted that the findings could also help develop treatments for epilepsy.
Dr Moza Al-Owais, research fellow at the University of Leeds, said: “This exciting study demonstrates the growing evidence that gasotransmitters play an important role as signalling molecules in the regulation of the physiological processes underlying Alzheimer’s disease, which are relatively poorly understood, opening new avenues for investigation and drug discovery.”
