DRUG IMPROVES MEMORY IN AGED MONKEYS

WASHINGTON, - A drug used experimentally to help block
the cravings of smokers and cocaine addicts also may improve memory if
given in low doses.

Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia found the drug
mecamylamine gave 20 percent to 30 percent improvements in memory in
aged monkeys as well as in non-aged rats performing different types
of memory tasks. They reported their research at the Experimental
Biology '99 conference in Washington, D.C. this morning.

``We're trying to develop new compounds to improve memory in animals,
and eventually in humans,'' said Jerry Buccafusco, director of the
Alzheimer's Research Center at Medical College of Georgia and the
Augusta Veterans Administration Hospital.

He added, ``If we can predict when a person will get Alzheimer's, we
can give a drug early on and delay or prevent Alzheimer's disease.
Mecamylamine might offer a neuro-protective effect for Alzheimer's
disease.''

Buccafusco and his colleagues tested Rhesus monkeys aged 20 and older
on their ability to remember colors. They showed the monkey a color,
and after a pause they put two colors in front of the monkey, one the
same as the earlier color. They tested the monkey's ability to match
one of the second set of colors to the first color.

In human Alzheimer's patients, such short-term memory goes first, he
said.

Buccafusco and his colleagues have been working on memory restorative
drugs for about 11 years. Earlier they found that nicotine and
related compounds can activate the nicotine receptors in the brain and
improve the memory of aged monkeys.

But nicotine has addictive side effects. So Buccafusco studied
mecamylamine, a related compound that when given in high doses blocks
the nicotine receptor in the brain. However, he found that when
mecamylamine is given in low doses, it has a restorative effect on
memory similar to that of nicotine, but without the harmful side effects.

Buccafusco and his colleagues said studying the nature of the
relationship of mecamylamine, nicotine and the nicotine receptor may
lead to new approaches for treating memory loss and other cognitive
problems. (Written by Lori Valigra in Cambridge, Mass.)