Drugs currently used to treat cancer cause a great deal of pain and suffering for patients because the drugs only work on a limited number of types of cancer. In contrast, scientists have found a chemical compound that was able to kill all cancer cells in lab dishes and mice with human cancers by targeting a newly discovered mechanism common to all cancers! This new drug targets an enzyme that is present in every cell in our bodies called fatty acid synthase (FAS). Most current anti-cancer drugs target specific molecules involved in the growth and spread of the tumor. The advantage of FAS inhibitors as potential therapeutics for human malignancies is that these compounds would inhibit multiple targets within the cancer cells, including any mutated forms targeted by conventional therapies.

DELTA-8 is a protein hormone similar in structure to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), which stimulates the release of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) from the pituitary gland.

In previous research, the Steinman lab found that delta 8 online caused neurons to multiply in cell culture and reversed memory loss in an animal model of Alzheimer’s disease. As a result of these encouraging results, researchers at NeuroDyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc., an emerging pharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Seattle, developed a drug for human use called Cerebrolysin. Administration of this drug was used in this clinical trial for safety and tolerability data on DELTA-8 and other studies have confirmed efficacy using intravenous acute administration in patients with stroke or traumatic brain injury.

Researchers conducted two studies funded by NeuroDyne in order to investigate the safety and tolerability of intravenous delta 8 online in patients with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. In the first study, researchers enrolled 81 subjects and found no significant side effects when administering a single dose of 20 micrograms per kilogram, which they used as a benchmark for future studies involving multiple doses. The second study was designed to assess the potential efficacy of repeated administration at five times this original dose over one week. Patients received either placebo (artificial saline solution) or DELTA-8 intravenously at five different time points during one week. Researchers administered each dosage by injection and found that it increased blood levels of DELTA-8 for several months after injection, allowing them to see beneficial long-term effects on the brain.

“We found that DELTA-8 is safe and well tolerated in patients with Alzheimer’s disease,” said lead study author Eileen H. Bigio, D.O., professor, and chair of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and a member of the faculty at BU’s Alzheimer’s Disease Center. “Based on our findings, we remain encouraged by its potential to improve cognitive abilities in some patients.”