An everyday vitamin could play a key role in preventing the damage to cells caused by degenerative conditions such as motor neurone disease, according to new research.

Scientists at Aberdeen University have discovered, for the first time, that using drugs to "switch on" receptors necessary to activate vitamin A may be therapeutic for diseases that lead to deterioration of the brain.

The research is published today in the journal, Frontiers in Neuroscience.

It found that when disease conditions were simulated in the laboratory, the 'super-activation' of the vitamin A signalling system helped protect cells against the type of damage that can occur in diseases such as MND or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

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Vitamin A - also known as retinoic acid - is a micronutrient commonly found in foods such as salmon, herring, eggs, cheese, and beef liver, as well as a wide range of fruits and vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, carrots, mangoes, and green leafy veg.

It is also in fortified milk, breakfast cereals, and margarine.

Vitamin A is already known to play an important role in immune function, fertility, and eyesight, but also occurs in the form, known as retinol, a fat-soluable molecule commonly used in skincare products to treat fine lines and wrinkles.

Its potential as a target in MND therapy was not previously known, however.

Rugby league star Rob Burrows, who died in June, campaigned for MND research (Image: PA)

Professor Peter McCaffery, the chair for medical sciences at Aberdeen University who led the study, said: “We discovered that these drugs bind and turn on the 'retinoic acid receptor', a key protein involved in activation of vitamin A in the body."

Azita Kouchmeshky, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco, and first author of the paper, said: “We tested these drugs in a series of studies on neurons grown in a dish.

“Chemicals were added to the neurons that caused harm similar to the changes that occur in diseases such as MND or ALS.

“Usually, these chemicals will cause the neurons to die.

"However, the application of the drugs that bind to the retinoic acid receptor significantly reduced the number of cells that died off.

“The same drugs were also tested in mice and were found to induce changes that suggest they may also be effective in the body.”

Professor Peter McCaffery led the researchProfessor Peter McCaffery led the research (Image: UniversityofAberdeen) Motor neuron disease affects around 5000 adults in the UK at any one time and roughly one in 300 people will develop MND in their lifetime.

Once the disease progresses it leads to the death of the motor neurons essential for muscle control, resulting in progressive muscle weakness, and in most cases the disease is fatal in a few years.

No treatments currently exist that will improve this condition for more than just a few months.

Prof McCaffery is hopeful that this discovery could pave the way to more effective therapies.

He added: “Our research provides the first steps to identify new targets for drugs that may then lead to future therapies.”

Andy Whiting, an Emeritus Professor at Durham University and CEO of Nevrargenics Ltd - a UK-based neuroscience company specialising in the discovery and development of novel medicines for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease - designed and synthesised the drugs used in the research.

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Prof Whiting said: “There is a total lack of genuinely disease modifying drugs out there for neurodegeneration in general, and ALS specifically.

"We are committed to changing that and delivering hope for MND sufferers in the first instance.

"This is one further step along the road to deliver new therapeutics for such globally challenging diseases.”

Dr Nicholas Cole, head of research at the MND Association said: “We are delighted to be supporting such valuable early work which we hope will go towards aiding the discovery of potential new therapies which could be put forward for clinical testing.

"The hope of course, is that through continuing public support, collaboration and partnership working we will find solutions to unpick the complex nature of MND which will lead to an effective treatment.”