Could medicine currently used to treat high blood pressure protect the brain from Alzheimer’s disease, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and schizophrenia? Even though this sounds impossible, researchers think it’s possible, and very likely, probable, according to a recent press release.
Researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center are focusing on the drug, Prazosin. At the present time, it’s frequently used as an antipsychotic medication. Prazosin is under investigation to treat Alzheimer’s disease, depression, PTSD, and schizophrenia because of how it works.
Prozasin is already used to treat high blood pressure, and has been helpful in improving sleep and reducing the incidence of nightmares for military veterans who have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
People who have Alzheimer’s disease, depression, PTSD, and schizophrenia have higher levels of glucocorticoids in their blood serum. Researchers believe that stress causes a neurochemial response in our body and our brain. This neurochemical response causes the release of glucocorticoids in our brains.
“It’s known, from human studies, that corticosteroids are not good for you cognitively. We think prozasin protects the brain from being damaged by excessive levels of corticosteroid stress hormones,” said study co-author S. Paul Berger, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience, OHSU School of Medicine and the PVAMC.
While having some corticosteroids is normal, and low levels act as an anti-inflammatory agent in the brain, higher levels are not healthy. When the levels are too high, an enzyme is activated which causes oxidative stress, and damage to nerve cells.
Additionally, researchers know that we process our emotions and memories in the hippocampus. It’s located in the cerebral cortex, along the elongated ridge.
Glucocorticoids are a steroid hormone. Researchers have indications that elevated levels of the steroid hormones, glucocoticoids, are found in areas of the nerves related the death of a nerve cell and other types of impulse transmission in the hippocampus.
Using rats as their research participants, scientists caused the rats to undergo extreme levels of the glucocorticoid, dexamethasone. After administering this drug, they tested the rats for the level of a protein named heat shock protein 70 (HSP70). HSP70 indicates neurotoxicity.
Prazosin acts as an alpha-1 receptor antagonist. The rats who were given prozasin before they were subjected to dexamethasone showed strong resistance to high levels of corticosteroids.
Currently, prozasin is used to treat high blood pressure. It is marketed under the brand names Minipress® and Hypovase®.
Sources:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/ohs-bpd110607.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prazosin
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=23491
