Alzheimer's Vaccine Restores Memory in Mice
Alzheimer's Vaccine Restores Memory in Mice
July 9, 2000 (Washington) -- A tiny mouse whose brain was riddled with same type of plaque that short-circuits the brains of humans with Alzheimer's disease (AD) swam for the gold yesterday, thanks to an experimental Alzheimer'svaccine. The mouse, says the researcher who is his keeper, is swimming faster and arriving at his destination sooner than he was before receiving a double dose of the vaccine. Christopher George Janus, PhD, of the University of Toronto told a room overflowing with Alzheimer's researchers that it looks as though the vaccine restored some of the mouse's memory.
But can it do the same for humans? That, says Bill Thies, PhD, vice president for medicine and science at the Alzheimer's Association, is the question that needs answering. Thies warns that it is too early to assume that the swimming performance by the mice in the study by Janus and fellow researchers points to a major breakthrough for Alzheimer's research. Still, he says, accumulating evidence is beginning to suggest that there may be a way to turn on the body's immune system to attack this disease that currently afflicts more than 4 million Americans.
Thies says that the study lead by Janus is actually one of a group of studies that have very similar findings. Those papers are among the hundreds of scientific studies being presented at the World Alzheimer Congress 2000 in Washington, D.C. The biggest news may come Tuesday, when Elan Pharmaceuticals presents results of the first human trial of its Alzheimer's vaccine. That study, says Thies, is very small and will only present data on the safety of the vaccine.
In the mouse study presented by Janus on Sunday, his research team tested that same vaccine in a group of mice that have been genetically bred to develop Alzheimer's disease. The mice begin developing amyloid plaques in the brain -- the characteristic brain lesion of Alzheimer's -- by three months of age and start having difficulty when put in a water maze. "Mice don't like to swim," says Thies, "so the water maze is a good way to test their memory and do it quickly." The researchers time how long it takes a mouse to locate a raised platform.
Alzheimer's Vaccine Restores Memory in Mice
July 9, 2000 (Washington) -- A tiny mouse whose brain was riddled with same type of plaque that short-circuits the brains of humans with Alzheimer's disease (AD) swam for the gold yesterday, thanks to an experimental Alzheimer'svaccine. The mouse, says the researcher who is his keeper, is swimming faster and arriving at his destination sooner than he was before receiving a double dose of the vaccine. Christopher George Janus, PhD, of the University of Toronto told a room overflowing with Alzheimer's researchers that it looks as though the vaccine restored some of the mouse's memory.
But can it do the same for humans? That, says Bill Thies, PhD, vice president for medicine and science at the Alzheimer's Association, is the question that needs answering. Thies warns that it is too early to assume that the swimming performance by the mice in the study by Janus and fellow researchers points to a major breakthrough for Alzheimer's research. Still, he says, accumulating evidence is beginning to suggest that there may be a way to turn on the body's immune system to attack this disease that currently afflicts more than 4 million Americans.
Thies says that the study lead by Janus is actually one of a group of studies that have very similar findings. Those papers are among the hundreds of scientific studies being presented at the World Alzheimer Congress 2000 in Washington, D.C. The biggest news may come Tuesday, when Elan Pharmaceuticals presents results of the first human trial of its Alzheimer's vaccine. That study, says Thies, is very small and will only present data on the safety of the vaccine.
In the mouse study presented by Janus on Sunday, his research team tested that same vaccine in a group of mice that have been genetically bred to develop Alzheimer's disease. The mice begin developing amyloid plaques in the brain -- the characteristic brain lesion of Alzheimer's -- by three months of age and start having difficulty when put in a water maze. "Mice don't like to swim," says Thies, "so the water maze is a good way to test their memory and do it quickly." The researchers time how long it takes a mouse to locate a raised platform.
