On 8 January, US researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Kentucky, Lexington, published a paper showing that a class of antibiotics called aminoglycosides may help treat frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Findings were published in the journal Human Molecular Genetics. FTD is the most common type of early onset dementia that mainly affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain and causes behaviour and language changes. Several genetic mutations have been described that cause FTD including a mutation in the genes that regulate the production of a protein called progranulin.
In the published study, scientists used cell cultures to test whether several aminoglycoside antibiotics, added to the cells exhibiting these mutations, can restore progranulin expression. They found that G418 and gentamicin B1 rescued the expression of progranulin to approximately 50% and less than 10% respectively. The effect detected was dose and time-dependent. Authors plan future research including studies in mouse models and the development of new compounds that could be more effective with lower toxicity.
