We?ve all been spitting them out for years, but now grape seeds have been
identified by Flinders University researchers as a potential treatment in
preventing the development of Alzheimer?s disease.
Using a mouse model, a team of medical scientists in the Department of Human
Physiology, headed by Professor Xin-Fu Zhou [pictured right], has found that
adding grape seed extract to the diet acts to prevent the formation of
deposits of amyloid proteins in the brain.

Professor Zhou said that over-production of amyloid-beta proteins, or the
body?s failure to degrade them, leads to the formation of clumps or snarls
in the brain and is a major cause of Alzheimer?s disease.

?This aggregation of amyloid will cause loss of nerve connections, cell
death and inflammation in the brain, leading to cognitive decline,?
Professor Zhou said.

Many fruits and vegetables contain polyphenols - complex molecules with
anti-oxidant properties - and some have been identified by scientists as a
possible method for reducing amyloid deposition.

Professor Zhou?s team, in collaboration with researchers from CSIRO, chose
to experiment with the polyphenol extract from grape seeds, a resource in
which South Australia is particularly rich.

Grape seed extract was fed to mice affected by transgenic Alzheimer?s for
six months, after which the researchers observed their behaviour and brain
pathology, comparing them with a control group.

?We found that grape seed extract was a very powerful agent in reducing
amyloid-beta deposits in the brain. It also produced marginal improvements
in cognitive function and, most importantly, reduced inflammation,?
Professor Zhou said.

He said that the CSIRO team led by Dr Michael Fenech found that grape seed
extract also prevented DNA damage by amyloids in the same mouse model.

?In general, grape seed extract demonstrates a strong disease-modifying
effect,? Professor Zhou said.

Because mice are comparable to humans in physiological and behavioural
terms, the grape seed extract is potentially an effective preventive measure
against the development of Alzheimer?s.

?As a dietary supplement, the effect of grape seeds is significant and
beneficial; it is a safe, natural product which contains ?goodies? that we
shouldn?t throw away.?

Lead researcher Dr Yanjiang Wang said that moderate wine consumption is
already recommended to prevent Alzheimer?s disease, but since the disease
mainly afflicts elderly people, many of whom cannot or will not drink
alcohol, grape seed extract is a better choice to prevent the disease.

The study?s findings will be published shortly, and Dr Wang will also
present the results to the Society for Neuroscience annual conference in
Washington DC in November. The team is now seeking funding to enable further
research that aims to identify the specific active compounds in grape seeds.
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