Alzheimer's Gene Therapy Slows Mental Decline
Not a Likely Cure, Say Researchers Testing Gene Therapy
April 25, 2005 -- A new approach to Alzheimer's disease uses gene therapy to slow down the disease.
When tried for the first time in humans, the mental decline from Alzheimer's slowed. Metabolic brain activity also increased, according to the report in Nature Medicine's online edition.
The study was very small, with only eight patients. More studies are needed, say the researchers, who included neurosciences professor Mark Tuszynski, MD, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego.
The strategy didn't cure Alzheimer's disease and isn't likely to do so, they caution. But if confirmed, it might be "a useful therapy" that could surpass current Alzheimer's treatments.
The technique is the first gene therapy for Alzheimer's disease, according to a news release. Previously, it was tested on nonhuman primates.
The participants -- five women and three men with Alzheimer's disease -- were followed for nearly two years, on average.
At the study's start, participants were about 67 years old and were in the early stages of the disease. It had been about 4.5 years since their Alzheimer's symptoms were first noticed and about two years since the probable diagnosis was made (Alzheimer's is definitively diagnosed when the brain is examined after death).
Each volunteer got mental tests and brain imaging scans before the procedure and at regular intervals during the two-year follow-up. That gave researchers a before-and-after look at participants' progress.
Researchers took skin cells called fibroblasts from each patient. In a lab, they genetically modified the cells to make and secrete nerve growth factor (NGF), a naturally occurring protein that prevents nerve cell death and stimulates cell function.
The modified cells were then inserted into each person's brain in a region affected by the disease.
At first, participants were sedated but awake while the cells were injected. Two patients moved during the procedure, causing bleeding in the brain. One died five weeks later. The other patient had temporary weakness on one side of the body and a worsening of dementia-related speech and language problems.
Later patients got general anesthesia during the procedure.
Alzheimer's Gene Therapy Slows Mental Decline
Not a Likely Cure, Say Researchers Testing Gene Therapy
April 25, 2005 -- A new approach to Alzheimer's disease uses gene therapy to slow down the disease.
When tried for the first time in humans, the mental decline from Alzheimer's slowed. Metabolic brain activity also increased, according to the report in Nature Medicine's online edition.
The study was very small, with only eight patients. More studies are needed, say the researchers, who included neurosciences professor Mark Tuszynski, MD, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego.
The strategy didn't cure Alzheimer's disease and isn't likely to do so, they caution. But if confirmed, it might be "a useful therapy" that could surpass current Alzheimer's treatments.
First Human Tests
The technique is the first gene therapy for Alzheimer's disease, according to a news release. Previously, it was tested on nonhuman primates.
The participants -- five women and three men with Alzheimer's disease -- were followed for nearly two years, on average.
At the study's start, participants were about 67 years old and were in the early stages of the disease. It had been about 4.5 years since their Alzheimer's symptoms were first noticed and about two years since the probable diagnosis was made (Alzheimer's is definitively diagnosed when the brain is examined after death).
Each volunteer got mental tests and brain imaging scans before the procedure and at regular intervals during the two-year follow-up. That gave researchers a before-and-after look at participants' progress.
Using Skin Cells to Help the Brain
Researchers took skin cells called fibroblasts from each patient. In a lab, they genetically modified the cells to make and secrete nerve growth factor (NGF), a naturally occurring protein that prevents nerve cell death and stimulates cell function.
The modified cells were then inserted into each person's brain in a region affected by the disease.
At first, participants were sedated but awake while the cells were injected. Two patients moved during the procedure, causing bleeding in the brain. One died five weeks later. The other patient had temporary weakness on one side of the body and a worsening of dementia-related speech and language problems.
Later patients got general anesthesia during the procedure.