Peroxynitrite scavengers for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Lane Simonian

This new study "confirms" what I have been saying for years:

"The elevated levels of ROS (reactive oxygen species) are among the major pathological alterations in AD. Among them, peroxynitrite (ONOO-) exhibits a greater impact compared to other reactive oxygen species and plays an important role in AD, but the role ONOO-plays in AD progression remains unclear…ONOO- and the aggregation of Abeta were closely related and mutually reinforcing was demonstrated and ONOO- underwent significant changes in the early stage of the change of Abeta β aggregation, indicating that ONOO- may serve as an early marker of AD."

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0925400524007019

There are however many other factors besides amyloid that contribute to peroxynitrite formation (ranging from high glucose levels to air pollution) such that amyloid may only contribute to the onset and early progression of Alzheimer's disease when amyloid levels are particularly high (in APOE4 carriers for example).

Most every treatment for Alzheimer's disease reduce peroxynitrite formation to some degree, but only a few also remove peroxynitrite and reduce some of the damage that it does to the brain. Among these are panax ginseng and aromatherapy:

Improvement of Cognitive Deficit in Alzheimer’s Disease Patients by Long Term Treatment with Korean Red Ginseng

In the long-term evaluation of the efficacy of KRG after 24 wk, the improved MMSE score remained without significant decline at the 48th and 96th wk. ADAS-cog showed similar findings. Maximum improvement was found around week 24. In conclusion, the effect of KRG on cognitive functions was sustained for 2 yr follow-up, indicating feasible efficacies of long-term follow-up for Alzheimer’s disease.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3659550/

Effect of aromatherapy on patients with Alzheimer's disease

Methods: After a control period of 28 days, aromatherapy was performed over the following 28 days, with a wash out period of another 28 days. Aromatherapy consisted of the use of rosemary and lemon essential oils in the morning, and lavender and orange in the evening. To determine the effects of aromatherpay, patients were evaluated using the Japanese version of the Gottfries, Brane, Steen scale (GBSS-J), Functional Assessment Staging of Alzheimer's disease (FAST), a revised version of Hasegawa's Dementia Scale (HDS-R), and the Touch Panel-type Dementia Assessment Scale (TDAS) four times: before the control period, after the control period, after aromatherpay, and after the washout period.

Results: All patients showed significant improvement in personal orientation related to cognitive function on both the GBSS-J and TDAS after therapy. In particular, patients with AD showed significant improvement in total TDAS scores. Result of routine laboratory tests showed no significant changes, suggesting that there were no side-effects associated with the use of aromatherapy. Results from Zarit's score showed no significant changes, suggesting that caregivers had no effect on the improved patient scores seen in the other tests.

Conclusions: In conclusion, we found aromatherapy an efficacious non-pharmacological therapy for dementia. Aromatherapy may have some potential for improving cognitive function, especially in AD patients.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1479-8301.2009.00299.x

Effect of aromatherapy in patients with Alzheimer's disease: a randomised controlled clinical trial

Conclusion: 

Aromatherapy can improve sleep, alleviate psychobehavioural symptoms and improve quality of life in patients with AD, which may be related to reducing the level of oxidative stress in patients and inhibiting inflammatory factors; it is a non-drug intervention that can be widely applied.

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-1392290/v1

I have not yet been able to find someone willing to fund and conduct a trial using aromatherapy and panax ginseng (Korean red ginseng) to treat Alzheimer's disease, but I will keep trying.

Iris L.

Thanks for posting, Lane.

Iris

dancsfo

Has anyone been deliberately trying aromatherapy to see how it may work. I'll try and can report back

The conclusion in the paper was as follows, and seems harmless to try, unless the smell bothers you, or it irritates allergic reactions, for example.

Aromatherapy improves sleep quality in patients with AD, alleviates psychobehavioural symptoms, and improves quality of life. This effect of aromatherapy is probably caused by regulating oxidative stress damage in the brain and inhibiting the expression of inflammatory factors to delay the deterioration of AD. In fact, the method of stimulating the olfactory nerve through scent exposure is easy to implement because of its low invasiveness and is suitable not only for patients with AD, but also for caregivers [31]. Our research confirms the effectiveness of aromatherapy as a non-pharmacological intervention for the treatment of patients with AD, and its potential as a valuable option is worthy of widespread application at healthcare facilities, communities, and homes in the future.