Red food dye may fight Alzheimer's

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

We've all grown up with the assumption that red food dye in all foods is bad for us. But researchers in Germany have discovered that a compound found in one particular red dye, specifically orcein, can reduce the number of small toxic protein clumps thought to cause neuronal dysfunction and memory loss in Alzheimer's disease. Orcein, and a related substance called O4, can bind with the protein clumps and convert them into large, mature "plaques" which are not harmful to neurons.

Past research on Alzheimer's has centred around altering the structure of these toxic aggregates, but the discovery of orcein and O4's interaction with them may change this. Rather than killing or altering the aggregates, these compounds accelerate their formation, speeding them through the toxic stage into their mature, non-toxic plaque form.

Lead researcher Erich Wanker, who used orcein and O4 in his experiments, explains: "Up to now it has been considered to be very difficult to stop the formation of small toxic protein assemblies . . . We hope that our findings will stimulate research activities in this direction, especially in drug discovery."

The research is still in its early stages, and it cannot yet be determined if these compounds will yield significant results. And scientists may be looking for a way to get people to eat orcein, also known as natural red 28. Made from lichen, it is really purple and not commonly consumed any more. One medical purpose is to stain hepatitis B infected liver cells. BF