2008 Grants - Ingram

Developing Calorie Restriction Mimetics for Treating Alzheimer's Disease

Donald K. Ingram, Ph.D.
Louisiana State University Agricultural and Mechanical College
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

2008 Investigator-Initiated Research Grant

Growing evidence has shown that people who consume low-calorie diets have a reduced risk for developing Alzheimer's disease and other disorders of aging. In recent studies, mice that reduced their calorie intake by 20 to 60 percent often increased their lifespan and remained healthy well into old age.

Low-calorie diets, however, might prove difficult to implement in human populations. Lack of participant compliance would likely become a major factor hampering such implementation. To overcome this problem, many researchers are working to develop drugs that enable people to benefit from the effects of reduced calorie diets without having to undertake the diets. These drugs are called calorie restriction mimetics (CRMs).

Donald K. Ingram, Ph.D., and colleagues propose to study the ability of three CRMs to slow the development of dementia and other age-related diseases. For this effort, they will use mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer-like symptoms. The researchers will also analyze the biological mechanisms underlying any beneficial effects of the CRMs. Dr. Ingram's team believes that its efforts could lead to novel drug therapies for Alzheimer's and other diseases.