Abstract
A COMPOUND first isolated from a traditional Chinese herbal medicine may lead to new therapeutic agents for Alzheimer disease (AD). Based on laboratory and x-ray crystallography studies, these agents, some researchers think, could be even better than the 2 drugs already approved for the disease. The alkaloid compound, huperzine A (HupA), was discovered in the Chinese herbal medicine<i>Qian Ceng Ta</i>. This traditional remedy, which is prepared from the moss<i>Huperzia serrata</i>, has been used in China for centuries to treat fever and inflammation. Although it has no antipyretic or antiinflammatory properties, HupA does appear to be a potent inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). In addition to appearing more selective and possibly less toxic than the 2 AChE inhibitors currently approved for the treatment of AD, HupA has a number of other pharmacological properties of clinical interest, said Israel Silman, PhD, professor of neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot,
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