Inhibition of Formation of Amyloid B-Protein Fibrils Using Cactus Mucilage Extracts

Competitive Advantages: Alternative therapy for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, Treats underlying pathology instead of symptoms, Few adverse side effects. A method of slowing progression of an amyloid disease by administration of cactus mucilage extract from Opuntia. ficus-indicia is presented. Both gelling and non-gelling cactus mucilage extracts were found to induce changes in the secondary structures of the amyloid beta peptides thus interfering with formation of A?? fibrils and aggregation of A?? fibrils into plaques.Our researchers have developed a method of treating amyloid disease found in both Alzheimer’s disease patients and Parkinson’s disease patients. They have shown that the plant mucilage extract effectively interferes with the protein accumulation pathway in the brain and successfully targets the amyloid beta protein plaques. Experimentally, both the gelling and non-gelling forms of the mucilage have been shown to disrupt the pathway leading to amyloid beta aggregation.