Promising therapeutic approach for Alzheimer patients

Therapeutic approach for Alzheimer patients

New discoveries have been made by researchers from the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the University of Zurich on AD. According to the study published in the current issue of Nature Medicine, the new discovery could be a new therapeutic target for Alzheimer’s disease not only to prevent but also to treat the disease already installed. Studies on laboratory animals  have shown that by blocking a transmitter of the immune system, pathological manifestations of the disease can be improved.

The incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in Germany and Switzerland is increasing, 1.5 million people are now affected by this disease and the incidence  is expected to double over the next 20 years. Alzheimer’s is one of the most common forms of dementia that affects the old population. The risk of this disease increases with age and it is believed that after 65 years, the risk doubles every five years. There are two forms of the disease: the early onset Alzheimer, which is transmitted in the family, and the late-onset, which occurs sporadically and is also the most common form.

Alzheimer patients

There are several hypotheses on the causes of Alzheimer’s disease. Cholinergic hypothesis is based on the idea that this illness is due to a decrease in a brain neurotransmitter: acetylcholine. Another hypothesis is that the accumulation of beta-amyloid deposits causes installation of Alzheimer. Finally, there is the assumption that the accumulation of tau protein in neuronal bodies leads to neurological damage.

Now researchers at the Department of Neuropathology at from Charité and from the Institute for Experimental Immunology at the University of Zurich,  have conducted studies on laboratory animals that have shown that beta-amyloid deposits can be reduced by blocking some cytokines, proteins that are part of the immune system. By affecting the immune molecule p40, a component of IL12 and IL 23, beta-amyloid deposits could be reduced by about 65%.

This discovery could provide the basis for a new therapeutic targets to treat Alzheimer’s in humans. Studies conducted so far by Professor Heppner’s and Professor Becher’s team, on laboratory animals have had positive results. It was found that mice that received antibodies that block p40 molecules had improvements in behavioral testing. What is interesting is that in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer’s there have been found elevated levels of p40, which reinforces the idea that it could become a new therapeutic target.

Professor Heppner and Professor Becher believe that more studies are needed to clarify the involvement of the immune system in Alzheimer’s disease onset. They believe that IL 12 and IL 23 are not the cause of  this disease and the role of the p40 molecule need to be investigated. Drugs that block p40 molecule have been launched to the market for the treatment of psoriasis, and now researchers are eager to see this new treatment in patients with Alzheimer’s.