Epigenetic therapy can prevent memory loss in vascular dementia, study shows

The Louisiana State University Health research team studied a mouse model of Vascular Cognitive Impairment (VCI) and found that repeated exposure to hypoxic environments (air with lower than normal levels of oxygen) protected against memory loss

"Like Alzheimer's, the molecular mechanisms that lead to vascular dementia are complex, and effective treatments are still lacking," noted Dr.

The researchers tested the hypothesis that epigenetics -- changes in behavior and the environment that trigger changes in the way genes are turned on and off -- may provide resilience to VCI

Dr Gidday added: "We also tested the hypothesis that this epigenetic treatment alters germ cells (egg and sperm), so that in the absence of direct treatment, the Adult offspring will inherit the resilience of VCI

The scientists found that, for two consecutive months, their physiological stimuli -- repeatedly exposing the mice to a low-oxygen environment -- air with low oxygen levels, similar to what we experience at high altitudes -- One hour a day, three times a week, prevented the loss of recognition memory and reversed impairments in nerve-to-nerve communication in the hippocampus, a brain region key to memory consolidation

Vascular cognitive impairment is the second leading cause of dementia

The study also showed that their "adaptive epigenetic" treatment prevented the loss of white matter, another human-like feature in mouse models of dementia

"These results suggest that epigenetic therapies may hold promise for preventing memory loss and other manifestations of dementia, and, notably, the ability to recover from disease caused by these therapies may also be passed on to first-generation offspring," Dr.

Other members of the LSU New Orleans Health research team include physiology graduate Krystal Courtney D.