Possible preventive measure for Alzheimer's

By Shelby D Burns, Wed, April 25, 2012

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an incurable, insidious neurodegenerative disease that robs healthy brain function from over five million people worldwide. It is the leading cause of dementia and to date there is no effective treatment or preventive measure.

IVIG treatment

Intravenous human immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment is being explored in multiple off-label uses including for the treatment of AD. Several clinical studies are assessing the tolerability and efficacy of IVIG but so far there are inconsistent outcomes.

But some researchers, including Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti, Saunders Family Chair and Professor in Neurology and Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, think there may be an explanation. It could be that the divergent outcomes in AD clinical studies of IVIG are due to differences in the way it is administered and in the doses used.

Dr. Pasinetti and his team recently discovered that prolonged administration of IVIG in models of AD using a much smaller dose than other research models, is effective at attenuating Alzheimer’s disease-type cognitive dysfunction and also promotes synaptic plasticity. Dr. Pasinetti explains:

"This experimental observation provides a rational basis for rectifying the inconsistency of study outcomes in Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials with IVIG. We now have the much needed information supporting the potential application of slow release of immunoglobulins delivered subcutaneously to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, even at pre-symptomatic stages of the disease."

The doctor believes that slow release of immuglobulins into the circulation (intravenous) and eventually into the brain for a longer period of time may delay the onset of Alzheimer’s dementia.

Source: MedicalNewsToday, Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology

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