Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
07/04/2013
This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.
Researchers at the University of California (UCLA), Santa Barbara, United States, are studying the cinnamon, a bark aromatic, used in different dishes and teas. The goal is to establish its possible action to combat common diseases affecting the world's population, like Alzheimer's and diabetes.
The research focuses on two compounds present in cinnamon - the cinnamaldehyde and epicatechin - which help to slow down (or even prevent) the development of "us" filamentous brain cells that characterize neurodegenerative disease.
These "knots" are formed by the accumulation of tau protein, which plays an important role in the structure and functioning of neurons. The researchers believe that the cinnamaldehyde, compound responsible for the flavor of cinnamon, this protein can protect from oxidative stress by the ability to join the residue of an amino acid, cysteine. Tau proteins are vulnerable to changes, a factor that contributes to the development of Alzheimer's disease.
According to Donald Graves, associate professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at UCLA, "somehow the cinnamaldehyde works like a cloak: in addition to protecting proteins tau, joining the cysteine residues, is also able to detach the to ensure the correct functioning of proteins. "
Already epicatechin - also present in foods such as strawberry, chocolate and red wine - shown to be a potent antioxidant. Besides stopping the oxidation process also interacts with the cysteines of the protein tau, and its protective action is similar to cinnamaldehyde.
Studies indicate that there is a close link between Type 2 diabetes and the incidence of Alzheimer's disease, since high levels of glucose - typical of diabetes - increased production of reactive elements to oxygen, a process that leads to oxidative stress. Accordingly, previous studies have demonstrated the positive effects of cinnamon in the control of glucose levels in blood and other problems associated with diabetes.
It remains to wait for the final results of the new research, but everything indicates that substances present in cinnamon can help prevent the appearance - or slow the advance - the most common form of dementia.
Source: UOL - Modern Consumer
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This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.