{"id":95702,"date":"2025-11-05T03:45:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T07:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/?p=95702"},"modified":"2025-11-06T09:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T13:43:13","slug":"utoledo-bioorganic-chemist-explores-alzheimers-disease-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/11_05_2025\/utoledo-bioorganic-chemist-explores-alzheimers-disease-treatment","title":{"rendered":"UToledo Bioorganic Chemist Explores Alzheimer\u2019s Disease Treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alzheimer\u2019s disease remains something of a conundrum to researchers.<\/p>\n

While its symptoms and their devastating impact on day-to-day life are well understood, including by the caregivers of the more than 7 million Americans who are afflicted with this most common form of dementia, its cure remains elusive.<\/p>\n

\"Lab

Dr. Peter Andreana is a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.<\/p><\/div>\n

As researchers across the country explore numerous approaches that address what they believe to be numerous contributing factors to the disease, The University of Toledo\u2019s Dr. Peter Andreana is zeroing in on one approach with the support of the National Institute on Aging. The agency recently awarded him nearly $400,000 to fund research into L-rhamnose (L-Rha), a molecule that\u2019s strongly linked to antioxidant activity beneficial in combating Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cL-Rha and L-Rha-containing molecules have a unique but positive effect on Alzheimer\u2019s disease, but we don\u2019t yet clearly understand why that is,\u201d said Andreana, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in UToledo\u2019s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. \u201cWe want to explore that relationship by examining related biochemical processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreana specializes in the synthesis of carbohydrates including sugars like L-Rha, which is part of the chemical makeup of gellan gum, an ingredient that food processors rely on as a binder and thickener in products ranging from salad dressing to ice cream.<\/p>\n

As a part of their new research supported by the National Institute on Aging, he and his collaborators \u2014 co-principal investigators Dr. Dong-Shik Kim in the College of Engineering and Dr. Zahoor Shah in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Studies as well as three graduate students\u00a0 \u2014 will design and synthesize L-Rha and L-Rha-containing molecules with specific chain-lengths and connectivity using a novel microwave-assisted chemistry.<\/p>\n

The team will then employ state-of-the-art biochemical assays to explore how their synthetic molecules perturb and proliferate antioxidant activity in cells, in effect depleting radicals known to cause the amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that are biomarkers for Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

The researchers hope their findings will ultimately inform new disease treatment with new drug development strategies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more we understand the root cause(s) of Alzheimer\u2019s disease, the better equipped we are to combat it,\u201d Andreana said. \u201cIt\u2019s important that we explore all possible factors when it comes to treating Alzheimer\u2019s disease, and the one we are laser-focused on is antioxidant activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who represents Ohio\u2019s Ninth Congressional District, praised the federal investment in Andreana\u2019s research in an announcement in September.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we know, northwest Ohio is home to some of the brightest minds and most innovative research institutions in the country,\u201d\u00a0she said.\u00a0\u201cThis federal investment in The University of Toledo\u2019s pioneering work on Alzheimer\u2019s disease will help advance our understanding of this devastating illness that affects millions of families nationwide. These research efforts not only strengthen our region\u2019s role in life-saving medical research but also offer hope to patients and caregivers alike.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"Lab<\/a>

The National Institute on Aging recently awarded Dr. Peter Andreana and his collaborators nearly $400,000 to support his research into the sugar molecule L-rhamnose (L-Rha).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":908,"featured_media":95704,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,34,39,1,42,3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95702"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95702"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95705,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95702\/revisions\/95705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}