Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug Shows Promise in Delaying Symptoms

An experimental medicine may possibly postpone the start of Alzheimer’s symptoms in people who are genetically intended to develop the disease at a young age, researchers from Washington University School of Medicine reported this week.

The findings published in The Lancet -NeurologyNote that Gantenerumab-a antibody that focuses on beta-amyloid protein plaques in the brain-having the risk of cognitive decline to 50% in patients who received treatment the longest.

“Everyone in this study was destined to develop Alzheimer’s disease and some of them not yet” rack From the university. “We don’t know how long they stay symptom-free for a few years or maybe decades.”

The research was aimed at people with Diad, a rare genetic disorder that guarantees almost the development of dementia between the 30s and 50s of a person. The study followed 73 participants who received Gantenerumab as part of the Dominant inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (Dian-Tu) Open-label Extension Study.

The gantenerumab works

For the subset of 22 asymptomatic patients who received Gantenerumab the longest – on average about eight years of treatment – the apparent reduction of the risk was the most pronounced. The study contributes to a growing amount of evidence in support of early intervention strategies in the pathology of Alzheimer’s and emphasizes the importance of preventive approaches in populations with dominant hereditary disease of Alzheimer’s (Diad), but researchers warned that such a minor confirmation requires these results.

The drug works by focusing on beta -amyloid, one of the two proteins that were thought to stimulate the progression of Alzheimer’s. In the affected brain, incorrectly folded versions of this protein gather in plaques that damage brain tissue. Gantenerumab helps to break these plaques and prevents new ones from forming.

“These exciting provisional findings very clearly indicate the potential role of reducing beta -amyloid in preventing Alzheimer’s disease,” said Maria C. Carrillo, Chief Science Officer at the Alzheimer’s Association in statements that are shared with Eurekalert.

Gantenerumab is not new. The drug previously failed in larger studies that tested it in people who experienced all the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, so that pharmaceutical company Roche led to abandon At the end of 2022. But the new findings suggest that timing can be crucial – perhaps the drug should be administered for years before the symptoms seem to be really effective.

The study was confronted with significant limitations. Many participants could not complete the full three -year extension period after Roche had achieved support for the medicine. The reduction of the cognitive decline for the overall group was not statistically significant, possibly due to the small number of participants.

Almost 30% of the participants also developed amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (Arias), Markers of brain swelling or bleeding that are known side effects of anti-amyloid medicines. Two patients experienced serious cases that required stopping treatment, although they eventually recovered.

In general, there were no life -threatening events or deaths during the study.

Other studies show promising

The Gantenerumab approach is not the only new treatment of Alzheimer’s who makes waves. When Decrypt Earlier reported, Chinese researchers recently published results of an experimental surgical procedure aimed at improving the brain waste removal system.

Their study describes a “cervical shunting” operation that connects lymph vessels in the neck with veins, creating new routes to wash away toxic proteins – Hellen reduce the effects of Alzheimer’s instead of preventing it.

One patient showed modest cognitive improvements after the procedure, in which test scores improved for several measures. “My mother’s memory is stabilizing and improves, and she is able to complete household chores every day,” the patient’s daughter told researchers four months after the operation.

Washington University is currently conducting additional prevention tests through the Dominant inherited Alzheimer Network-Trials unit, which tests both approved and newer experimental anti-amyloid drugs that can show even stronger benefits than GIANTENUMAB. Many patients from the original expansion study were switched to another medicine called Lecanemab– It has been established that it reduces the relegation of the brain caused by Alzheimer’s – although data from this phase has not yet been analyzed.

Although these findings mark potential progress, they represent early evidence rather than definitive evidence that anti-amyloid medicines can prevent Alzheimer’s when they are administered far in advance. The researchers emphasized that confirmation requires larger, long -term studies that are specifically designed to test this preventive approach.

Published by James Rubin