Regular exercise may inhibit the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, according to ongoing research by Stefan Keslacy, an assistant professor of exercise science in the School of Education.

Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia that causes progressive memory loss, is a growing concern. Due to the large elderly population, the number of cases is expected to triple by 2050, Keslacy said. Age is the greatest risk factor in the development of this disease.

“We are reaching the perfect storm for Alzheimer’s disease with an increase in longevity and baby boomers that reach 65 years old,” he said. “We need to do something now.”

Keslacy began his experiments approximately two and a half years ago with the help of student team members. As an exercise physiologist and biologist, he was new to this particular field of study.

He observed mice that had developed brain plaques similar to those associated with Alzheimer’s in humans, and found that exercise was effective in reducing both the number and size of the plaques.

“We first tested the exercise as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease using an animal model,” Keslacy said. “We found that chronic exercise could decrease some of the hallmarks of AD, such as the plaques in the brain.”

The problem with this finding, he said, was that the elderly, who are most at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease, generally can’t exercise at the intensity and for the duration needed to achieve positive results, he said.

This led him to study gene expression associated with the immune system and inflammation, hoping to find a way to reproduce the beneficial effects of exercise. The results of these studies seemed promising. They showed gene therapy could partially reproduce the effect of exercise, at least on plaques in the brain, Keslacy said.

“We are now conducting animal experiments to try to boost or mimic the effect of exercise using gene therapy,” he said. “It’s not something we have completely finished — it’s a pretty long process, but it’s promising.”

Keslacy and his student assistants are finishing the first phase of their human study at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University, in which they gathered several volunteers to exercise regularly for three months. Some of these participants exercise at home, while others choose to go to the Institute for Human Performance at SUNY Upstate.

Before and after their participation in the study, volunteers undergo various tests such as biopsies, cognitive tests and blood samples. The goal of these experiments is to pinpoint the genes associated with the benefits of exercise, as they are likely to differ from those found in mice.

Keslacy said he hopes the study will be completed by the end of the summer so that he may begin researching on a larger scale.

Said Keslacy: “We believe that understanding the cellular aspect of the effect of exercise on Alzheimer’s disease could lead to new therapeutic targets, and may represent a new hope in the combat against AD.”

Published on February 13, 2013 at 12:07 am

Contact Emma: ecwozny@syr.edu