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Home News Research Suggests Antibody May Target the Primary Cause of Alzheimer’s Disease

Research Suggests Antibody May Target the Primary Cause of Alzheimer’s Disease

Published: Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Researchers at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine have found that natural human antibodies in an antibody product bind to and possibly neutralize clusters of a protein fragment, called A-beta, which form brain plaques and are believed to be the primary culprit for Alzheimer’s disease. These findings could translate into new treatment for Alzheimer’s patients, possibly reversing the effects of the disease.

Brian O’Nuallain, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, Director, Small Molecule Therapeutics and Alzheimer’s Disease Research Labs, and Alan Solomon, M.D., Professor of Medicine, head of the Human Immunology and Cancer/Alzheimer’s Disease and Amyloid-Related Disorders Research Program, found that natural human antibodies in an FDA-approved intravenous antibody product, GAMMAGARD Liquid, produced by Baxter International Inc., bind to the abnormal A-beta protein clusters. These clusters abnormally accumulate and form sticky fibrils that attract various proteins, resulting in the development of plaques in brain tissue and toxic forms in brain fluid of Alzheimer’s disease patients. The accumulation of the A-beta protein clusters are believed to be the primary cause of the disease.

Antibodies are proteins in blood that produce immunity by attaching to foreign proteins and removing or neutralizing them.

“These initial findings are promising and warrant further investigations on the use of naturally occurring antibody as treatment for Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. O’Nuallain. “No cure exists that can halt or delay the brain deterioration associated with Alzheimer’s disease, but our findings show how the action of the antibody against multiple forms of the abnormal protein might protect the human brain from dementia and facilitate the development of treatment for patients.”

The study, funded by Baxter Bioscience, was recently reported at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in Chicago.

Thirty-five academic medical centers in the United States soon will conduct a Phase III clinical study of GAMMAGARD Liquid for Alzheimer’s disease. The trial is sponsored jointly by the National Institutes of Health and Baxter Inc. and currently is being reviewed by the FDA with the intention of beginning patient recruitment later in 2008. For information about the clinical trial, visit the National Institutes of Health website, www.nih.gov.  

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive and fatal brain disease and the most common form of dementia. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, an estimated 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease. One out of eight people age 65 and older have the disease, and the number of new cases per year is expected to grow to 454,000 by 2010. By 2010, the number of people age 65 and older with the disease could reach as high as 16 million.

In Tennessee alone, 120,000 people will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease by 2010. There are already 222,830 Alzheimer’s/dementia caregivers in the state who provide 192,346,581 hours of unpaid care per year, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.