Could some antibiotics help treat early-onset dementia?
Some form of dementia-like frontotemporal dementia can show early symptoms at 40. Frontotemporal dementia, or frontotemporal lobar dementia, is an umbrella term that refers to a range of early-onset dementias characterized by the progressive atrophying of the brain’s frontal lobes, temporal lobes, or both. Cognitive function impairments and personality and behavioral changes, difficulty in writing, and speaking are the significant symptoms of this kind of dementia. They are mostly genetic or hereditary. Studies suggest a genetic mutation that prevents brain cells from making a protein called progranulin. The absence of Progranulin is associated with this kind of dementia. The role of antibiotics The brain cells that are mutated and show an absence of progranulin synthesis, in the presence of antibiotics, 'trick' the cellular machinery into making it. The researchers found two specific aminoglycoside antibiotics -- Gentamicin and G418 -- were influential in fixing the mutatio...