Blackcurrants May Protect Brain
January 23rd 2006
British blackcurrants may hold the key to preventing Alzheimer’s disease, researchers have reported. Researchers in New Zealand say the blackcurrant - which grows freely in British gardens - is rich in compounds which appear to protect against the brain disease.
The researchers said two compounds anthocyanins and polyphenolics are found in two fruits, the blackcurrant and the boysenberry in the USA.
The laboratory studies of brain cells suggest they have a powerful ability to protect against damage caused by amyloid-beta and dopamine, chemicals involved with Alzheimer’s disease.
But the British blackberry has been bred to be a dark berry - and contains greater quantities of anthocyanin than the boysenberry.
Details of the research by Dilip Ghosh, of the Horticulture and Food Research Institute, New Zealand.
James Joseph, of Tufts University, said : "We have evidence that the compounds protect against Alzheimer’s by influencing the early gene expression in learning and memory, which influences cell signaling pathways that help neuronal cells communicate with each other."
Chemistry & Industry, January 23 2006
Issue 2, Page 6
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