An amyloid plaque in the brain of an Alzheimer's patient
A new experimental drug has successfully removed beta-amyloid plaques from the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients in an early-stage study.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. Scientists have been unsuccessful to develop an effective treatment for the disease, which gradually progresses and affects memory, thinking, and behavior and eventually leads to death.
The main causes of the disease are not identified but deposition of amyloid beta-peptide in brain tissue plaques has been known as a significant characteristic of the disease.
Many studies have been focused on the mechanism of the plaques' formation and finding drugs that remove amyloid deposits.
Now researchers working with drug maker Roche say they have successfully tested gantenerumab, a monoclonal antibody, on 16 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's, who either received the new drug for two to seven months or just placebo infusions.
Brain scans of the participants showed that those who received two to seven infusions of the experimental drug every four weeks over two to seven months had a 15.6 percent to 35.7 percent reduction in brain amyloid plaques compared.
According to the report published in the Archives of Neurology, patients who received higher doses of gantenerumab showed the biggest reductions but they also experienced some transient inflammation or edema in the brain areas where reductions occurred.
"It is still unclear whether any reduction in brain amyloid level will translate into clinical efficacy," researchers warned.
“These results and especially the rapidity of the effects observed on amyloid removal are very encouraging and pave the way for the development of a novel treatment for Alzheimer's disease,” said Luca Santarelli, head of Roche's global neuroscience disease division.
“Our objective was not only to demonstrate the effects of gantenerumab on brain amyloid, but also to start elucidating its mechanism of action, this is extremely important to fully understand the compound's therapeutic potential for Alzheimer's disease,” he added.
Scientists emphasized that much larger studies will be needed to bring a full understanding about how gantenerumab works and how much the new drug is effective and safe.
Notícia em Press TV
Acesso em 14 de outubro de 2011.
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