New vaccine can stop Alzheimer's

Hope for effective Alzheimer's treatment: The cause of the disease was stopped in the course of a study with a newly discovered vaccine. The results can also be applied to humans, according to scientists from the University of Göttingen.

(05.11.2010) Göttingen researchers have developed a new treatment approach that has been used to stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease in mice. The mice were injected with a new antibody targeted to attack a specific protein, which is considered the trigger of the disease. The results can be transferred to humans, explained Prof. Thomas Bayer from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG).

„wrongdoer“ discovered the Alzheimer's triggers
So far, the so-called plaques, Alzheimer's typical protein deposits in the brain, were considered by most medical professionals as a trigger of the disease. The plaques become lodged in the brain, causing nerve cells to die and trigger Alzheimer's disease, according to the simplified presentation of the popular medical explanation. Whether the plaques trigger or only symptom of Alzheimer's disease, however, is discussed critically among the experts to this day.

On the basis of previous studies, the UMG scientists have for some time been advocating that nerve cells die not because of plaques, but because of a special molecular structure in the brain that produces the protein pyroglutamate-abeta. This is the true one „wrongdoer“ so the statement of the scientists in the publication of their aktuellennn study results in the journal „Journal of Biological Chemistry“. Pyroglutamate Abeta fancy toxic aggregations (oligomers) that accumulate in the nerve cells and blood vessels of the brain of Alzheimer's sufferers and so cause the disease-causing damage, scientists and reference stated on their previous study results.

Developed antibodies that can stop Alzheimer's
The earlier studies had also shown that the plaques are difficult to destroy, said Prof. Thomas Bayer another reason for the now tested on mice completely new therapy approach. After the destruction of the plaques is not only difficult but always in connection with serious side effects, since one must imagine the plaques according to Prof. Bayer as a kind of dustbin for toxic Abeta protein, which are best left alone, so embedded toxins can not escape. Thus, the scientists of the UMG came to the conclusion that it would be useful, instead, to combat the re-emergence of toxic proteins (pyroglutamate-Abeta). Therefore, one has developed an antibody that is able to bind to the oligomers and make them harmless. Thus, they were able to stop the destructive power of the oligomers early by injecting the antibody into the mice. „We probably will not be able to cure this form of passive vaccination, but our research shows that the antibodies appear to stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease“, the conclusion of Prof. Bayer in the context of the current publication.

Hope for 35 million Alzheimer's patients worldwide
Good news for the growing number of Alzheimer's patients worldwide, currently around 35 million, because the most common form of dementia was thought to be incurable, so that prevention was the only way to protect themselves a little bit from personality-destroying disease. „Regular sports and exercise“ According to the renowned neurologist Prof. Gereon Fink, prevention is a possibility, and numerous studies have shown that „a high level of education“ and „a lively mental activity“ protect against Alzheimer's. But complete protection against the disease do not offer all these preventive measures, so that the statement of Prof. Bayer that he expected to test in Alzheimer's patients, the new form of therapy in the latest two years, for all concerned is a welcome message. (Fp)

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