Guwahati: Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG) have worked on out-of-the-box ideas that can help prevent or reduce short-term memory losses associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
The research team, headed by Prof Vibin Ramakrishnan, professor, Department of Biosciences & Bioengineering, IIT Guwahati, and Prof Harshal Nemade, professor, Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, IIT Guwahati, studied the neurochemical principles of Alzheimer’s disease, and explored new ways to prevent accumulation of neurotoxic molecules in the brain, that are associated with short-term memory loss due to the disease.
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The IIT Guwahati team reported interesting methods such as application of low-voltage electric field, and the use of ‘trojan peptides’ to arrest aggregation of neurotoxic molecules in the brain. The scientists were assisted by research scholars Gaurav Pandey and Jahnu Saikia in their work, and the results of their studies have been published in reputed journals such as ACS Chemical Neuroscience, RSC Advances of Royal Society of Chemistry, BBA and Neuropeptides.
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In 2019, the IIT Guwahati scientists found that application of a low-voltage, safe electrical field can reduce the formation and accumulation of toxic neurodegenerative molecules that cause short-term memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease. They found that external electric/magnetic field modulates the structure of these peptide molecules, thereby preventing aggregation.
“Our research has provided a different path that may extend the onset of the Alzheimer’s disease. However, it would take testing in animal models and clinical trials before bringing in such new therapeutic approaches into human treatment,” said project coordinators Dr Ramakrishnan and Dr Nemade.
