A pilot clinical trial in seven men with Down’s syndrome, aged 20 to 50, who received – via a special pump placed in the arm – a dose of GnRH every two hours for six months, showed an improvement in their condition, as shown by both MRI scans brain imaging
Scientists from France and Switzerland have announced that they have developed a new experimental treatment that can improve cognitive function and brain connectivity in Down syndrome patients.
The researchers from the French National Institute of Health & Medical Research INSERM (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale) and the University Hospitals of Lille and Lausanne (CHUV), led by Dr. Vincent Prevot and Professor Nellie Pitelou respectively, they made the relevant publication in the journal “Science”. The method, tested on animals and seven patients leaving hope for the future, focuses on treating the dysfunction of the so-called GnRH neurons in people with Down’s.
This syndrome, also known as trisomy 21 (because there are three copies of chromosome 21 instead of two), is the most common genetic cause of mental retardation, for which there are currently no treatments. It occurs in about one in 800 births (one in 30 in women giving birth after 45) and leads to various clinical manifestations, including cognitive impairment. Over time, about three out of four sufferers (77%) develop symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer’s disease. The gradual loss of smell, a typical symptom in neurodegenerative diseases, also occurs during the preadolescent period.
Recent discoveries have shown that possibly the neurons that produce GnRH (gonadotropin-releasing hormone), which was known to regulate reproduction through the hypothalamus, may also affect other brain areas, affecting cognitive function as well. Researchers investigated for the first time in depth, first in rodents and then in humans with Down syndrome, whether this is the case.
It was found that in the case of Down there are abnormalities in the neurons that secrete the GnRH hormone. At a later stage, the scientists were able to show that restoring the normal function of GnRH could restore cognitive and olfactory functions in experimental animals.
Finally, a pilot clinical trial in seven men with Down syndrome, aged 20 to 50, who received – via a special pump placed in the arm – a dose of GnRH every two hours for six months, showed an improvement in their condition, as seen by both the brain magnetic imaging tests (the connectivity and thus the communication between the neurons of the cerebral cortex had improved), as well as the cognitive tests that had been done before and after the treatment. Cognitive performance increased in six of the seven subjects, who now had better understanding of doctors’ instructions, improved thinking and logical processing, better attention and memory. But the treatment did not improve their ability to smell at all, as shown by the relevant olfactory tests. On the other hand, the treatment had no significant side effects.
The researchers spoke of “promising findings and now warrant a larger study, this time involving women, to confirm the effectiveness of the treatment in people with Down syndrome, but also in other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease ».
RES-EMP
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