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Alzheimer's & Dementia
Alzheimer's Vaccine that Restores Memory in Mice
Revealed by Researchers
Shows promise of reversing memory loss, slowing
effects of Alzheimer's
May 31, 2006 Researchers today claim to have
developed a vaccine that reverses memory loss in Alzheimer's diseased
mice. They say it is created from specialized blood cells, has no side
effects and needs to be given only occasionally.
Researchers at the Johnnie B. Byrd, Sr. Alzheimer's
Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, are making this claim.
In a study published this week in the journal,
Neurobiology of Disease, the researchers report that tests of the new
vaccine on mice shows promise of reversing memory loss and seriously
slowing the effects of Alzheimer's on patients.
The groundbreaking research was done by
investigators from the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute, the University of
South Florida, and University of California Riverside.
In the study, researchers took ordinary white blood
cells (immune cells) from normal mice and exposed those white blood
cells to an abnormal protein called "beta-amyloid." Beta-amyloid
accumulates in Alzheimer's brains and appears to be the root cause of
this devastating disease.
A single injection of white blood cells
"sensitized" to beta-amyloid was given to Alzheimer's mice with impaired
memories and Alzheimer's-like brain pathologies. When the Alzheimer's
mice were tested several months later, their memory performance was
surprisingly improved, even up to the level of normal mice. Moreover,
this single vaccine treatment increased connections between brain cells
and reduced brain levels of beta-amyloid in the Alzheimer's mice.
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Another Vaccine Report |
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Gene-Based Vaccines May Fight
Alzheimer's
Slowed brain plaque build-up in mice, but success in humans
will be real test
June 12, 2006 - (HealthDay News) --
In what might prove a breakthrough against Alzheimer's disease,
Japanese researchers have created a new gene-based vaccine that
effectively treated mice with an animal form of the
brain-robbing illness.
The new vaccine may be an important
advance because it doesn't cause the side effects seen in other
vaccines, according to Dr. Yoh Matsumoto, whose team developed
and tested the vaccine at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for
Neuroscience.
>>
Read the report at HealthDay |
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"This adoptive transfer vaccine approach is
important not only for the long-term benefits it provides, but also for
what it doesn't provide -- harmful side effects," said Gary Arendash,
Ph.D, a principal investigator on the study and a Byrd Institute
researcher.
Plans for clinical trials with the new vaccine in
Alzheimer's patients are underway at the Byrd Alzheimer's Center and
Research Institute. "Even if this new vaccine does not cure Alzheimer's
disease, it may significantly slow down the disease process and thus
provide years of quality life to individuals diagnosed with the
disease," said Arendash.
The new vaccine created by Byrd Institute
researchers and their collaborators did not induce an inflammatory
response in either the blood or brain of Alzheimer's mice, said Dr.
Douglas Ethell of the University of California, another principle
investigator in the study.
The Byrd Alzheimer's Research Institute is based at
the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fl., and is the state's center
of excellence for Alzheimer's research. The Byrd Alzheimer's Institute
is Florida's only Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, a designation
from the National Institutes of Health.
Information on the study and helpful information on
treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease can be found at:
http://www.byrdinstitute.org/.
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