CSN News reports that a new drug from the University of Barcelona, Spain, offers hope for Alzheimer’s sufferers.

After testing the drug on mice, researchers from the University of Barcelona made a breakthrough.

Though the disease may be incurable, the majority of drugs currently used only have a small impact in the initial stages.

In Spain, over 800,000 people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. The Barcelona research team has developed a drug with neuroprotective and antiinflammatory properties.

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A pharmaceutical company has licensed the patent so that human trials for approval of the drug can be started.

This study is the culmination seven years of research, in which researchers used a different approach based upon the inflammatory processes contributing to the triggering of the disease and its modulation.

The authors claim that strategies have been unsuccessfully tried over the past 10 years, which have targeted plaque and beta-amyloid formation in the mind.

“There is strong evidence that the neuro-inflammation process is a significant cause of Alzheimer’s, and treating inflammatory processes as a therapeutic strategy is promising,” they said.

The new compound is a soluble epoxide-hydrolase (sEH) inhibitor, an enzyme that regulates several physiological processes such as inflammation and pain responses.

The study results show that the treatment with this new compound has neuro-protective properties in two mouse models for Alzheimer’s, leading to improved memory and neural networks.

Santiago Vazquez of the Barcelona team stated: “This may help preserve neuronal functionality and reduce neuronal loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease.”