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Memory impairment in mice reduced by soy derivate that can enter the brain intact

In a study that could help one day give a literal meaning to food for thought, researchers from Kyushu University in Japan have reported that a protein fragment that makes its way into the...

In a study that could help one day give a literal meaning to food for thought, researchers from Kyushu University in Japan have reported that a protein fragment that makes its way into the brain after being ingested can reduce memory degradation in mice treated to simulate Alzheimer's disease.

Derived by breaking apart the proteins in soybeans, the memory-effecting molecule is classified as a dipeptide because it contains just two of the protein building blocks known as amino acids. Unique about the dipeptide used in the study is that it is currently the only one known to make the trip from a mouse's stomach to its brain intact despite the odds against it.

"On top of the possibility of being broken down during digestion, peptides then face the challenge of crossing a highly selectively barrier to get from the blood into the brain," says Toshiro Matsui, professor in the Faculty of Agriculture at Kyushu University and leader of the study published in npj Science of Food.

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