SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian scientists say they have identified a toxin which plays a key role in the onset of Alzheimer’s, raising hope that a drug targeting the toxin could be developed to slow the degenerative brain disease.The toxin, called quinolinic acid, kills nerve cells in the brain, leading to dysfunction and death, the scientists said."Quinolinic acid may not be the cause of Alzheimer’s disease, but it plays a key role in its progression,” Alzheimer’s researcher Dr Karen Cullen from the University of Sydney said in a statement. “It’s the smoking gun, if you like.”
