Promising new treatment for Down syndrome started with a Maine mouse
Researchers at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC) may have found a way to reverse the learning deficit associated with Down syndrome. As first reported online on August 15, 2007, in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, a group led by Alberto Costa tested the effectiveness of memantine, a drug already being used to treat human patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The drug was tested on a strain of mice with a disorder that closely resembles Down syndrome, developed at The Jackson Laboratory by Muriel T. Davisson, Ph.D. The UCDHSC researchers found the mice gained significantly better memory capabilities following injection with memantine. Costa, who has a daughter with Down syndrome, feels that the findings offer promise. “After 11 years working in the filed of Down syndrome, I feel fortunate to finally be in a position of being able to use scientific research to try to help improve the quality of life of people who share the same genetic disorder as my daughter.”
