Saving memories

Dan Kampner Arizona Daily Wildcat UA psychology and neurology professor Gary Wenk and his team of researchers have found two super aspirins that may prevent or slow Alzheimer's disease. They tested the drugs on rats infected with a disease similar to the one that causes memory loss and brain deterioration in people.

The two "super aspirins" - anti-inflammatory drugs that have few or no side effects - have proven to help laboratory rats remember their way through underwater mazes, said Gary Wenk, a UA psychology and neurology professor heading the ongoing study.

The three-member UA team, which also consists of Arizona Research Lab neural systems researcher Beatrice Hauss-Wegrzyniak and neurosciences graduate student Lauren Willard, infected rats with a disease similar to Alzheimer's, an age-related illness that causes brain deterioration and memory loss.

Wenk said the study was significant because the drugs were effective on a disease "model" similar to actual Alzheimer's. It is impossible to infect rats with the actual disease, he said.

"We found the model was useful, and indication that the drug was effective," Wenk said.

People who have arthritis usually do not get Alzheimer's because they take anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin, he said, but aspirin can cause stomach discomfort and other problems.

Wenk said the new drugs tested in the study are similar to aspirin, but don't have "any of these nasty side effects."

"They are safe and effective," he said. "So far we don't know yet of any negative side effects. What's interesting is some side-effects are useful."

A possible side effect of the super aspirins, also known as NO-flurbiprofen and CI1004, is that they may prevent colon cancer.

The team tested rats' memories by putting them in a water maze, Wenk said. The object was to have the rats find an underwater platform by using cues given to them.

Rats that had taken super aspirins were able to find the platform faster, Wenk said. He added that the underwater maze was a "nice task" that didn't hurt the rats.

The key in animal studies is to develop a model that is extremely close to an actual human disease, Wenk said.

If successful, the research conducted on animals will also help humans infected with similar illnesses. Many drugs on the market today were tested using animal models.

Wenk said a good model - like a real disease - is complex.

"More components and more features make a better model," he said.

The UA study found that the super aspirins prevent memory impairment by limiting age-related cell loss and brain inflammation.

The two experimental drugs are being tested by French and American companies, Wenk said. The UA team is collaborating with a Florence, Italy-based doctor to test them for a French company called Nicox.

Willard said the research helps Alzheimer's patients, and she is glad to be a part of it.

"I used to work with Alzheimer's patients in a psychiatric institute in Kansas," she said. "It's really tragic."

Irene Hsiao can be reached via e-mail at Irene.Hsiao@wildcat.arizona.edu.