A research team at Harvard University has prevented the death of Down's syndrome brain cells in a laboratory dish, the first step in a long process that may eventually lead to treatment. Dr Bruce Yankner of Children's Hospital in Boston has found that Down's syndrome nerve cells, known as neurons, undergo extensive cell suicide faster than normal neurons.
The Down's syndrome cells seem to produce an abundance of "free radicals", toxic oxygen molecules that destroy tissue. His team was able to prevent the death of these brain cells by adding antioxidants to the lab dish. Antioxidants are a class of vitamins and compounds that control the activity of free radicals.
While it is too early to tell, he said that stress by free radicals could contribute to the mental retardation that is common in people with Down's syndrome, and could explain why they are more prone to develop Alzheimer's by the fourth decade of life.
No one knows whether humans with Down's syndrome suffer from a defect in the metabolism of free radicals. For decades, companies have been advocating consumption of mega-vitamins for Down's syndrome, based on the belief that supplements can benefit brain cells.
But science, until recently, has never backed such a claim. Several studies are now testing the benefits of antioxidants such as vitamin E for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease. "It's extraordinarily tantalising and hopeful," said a Down's syndrome expert, Dr Allen Crocker, "But to extrapolate from findings in a cell culture to humans is premature."