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http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/Alzheimers_reversed/2008/01/09/62956.html
Symptoms of Alzheimer's Reversed in Minutes
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
An extraordinary new scientific study, which for the first time documents
marked improvement in Alzheimer's disease within minutes of administration
of a therapeutic molecule, has just been published in the Journal of
Neuroinflammation.
This new study highlights the importance of certain soluble proteins, called
cytokines, in Alzheimer's disease. The study focuses on one of these
cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF), a critical component of the
brain's immune system. Normally, TNF finely regulates the transmission of
neural impulses in the brain. The authors hypothesized that elevated levels
of TNF in Alzheimer's disease interfere with this regulation. To reduce
elevated TNF, the authors gave patients an injection of an anti-TNF
therapeutic called etanercept. Excess TNF-alpha has been documented in the
cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's.
The new study documents a dramatic and unprecedented therapeutic effect in
an Alzheimer's patient: improvement within minutes following delivery of
perispinal etanercept, which is etanercept given by injection in the spine.
Etanercept (trade name Enbrel) binds and inactivates excess TNF. Etanercept
is FDA approved to treat a number of immune-mediated disorders and is used
off label in the study.
The use of anti-TNF therapeutics as a new treatment choice for many
diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and potentially even Alzheimer's, was
recently chosen as one of the top 10 health stories of 2007 by the Harvard
Health Letter.
Similarly, the Neurotechnology Industry Organization has recently selected
new treatment targets revealed by neuroimmunology (such as excess TNF) as
one of the top 10 Neuroscience Trends of 2007. And the Dana Alliance for
Brain Initiatives has chosen the pilot study using perispinal etanercept for
Alzheimer's for inclusion and discussion in their 2007 Progress Report on
Brain Research.
The lead author of the study, Edward Tobinick M.D., is an assistant clinical
professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles and
director of the Institute for Neurological Research, a private medical group
in Los Angeles. Hyman Gross, M.D., clinical professor of neurology at the
University of Southern California, was co-author.
The study is accompanied by an extensive commentary by Sue Griffin, Ph.D.,
director of research at the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging at the
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock and at the
Geriatric Research and Clinical Center at the VA Hospital in Little Rock,
who along with Robert Mrak, M.D., chairman of pathology at University of
Toledo Medical School, are editors-in-chief of the Journal of
Neuroinflammation.
Griffin and Mrak are pioneers in the field of neuroinflammation. Griffin
published a landmark study in 1989 describing the association of cytokine
overexpression in the brain and Alzheimer's disease. Her research helped
pave the way for the findings of the present study. Griffin has recently
been selected for membership in the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, a
nonprofit organization of more than 200 leading neuroscientists, including
ten Nobel laureates.
"It is unprecedented that we can see cognitive and behavioral improvement in
a patient with established dementia within minutes of therapeutic
intervention," said Griffin. "It is imperative that the medical and
scientific communities immediately undertake to further investigate and
characterize the physiologic mechanisms involved. This gives all of us in
Alzheimer's research a tremendous new clue about new avenues of research,
which is so exciting and so needed in the field of Alzheimer's. Even though
this report predominantly discusses a single patient, it is of significant
scientific interest because of the potential insight it may give into the
processes involved in the brain dysfunction of Alzheimer's."
While the article discusses one patient, many other patients with mild to
severe Alzheimer's received the treatment and all have shown sustained and
marked improvement.
Symptoms of Alzheimer's Reversed in Minutes
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
An extraordinary new scientific study, which for the first time documents
marked improvement in Alzheimer's disease within minutes of administration
of a therapeutic molecule, has just been published in the Journal of
Neuroinflammation.
This new study highlights the importance of certain soluble proteins, called
cytokines, in Alzheimer's disease. The study focuses on one of these
cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF), a critical component of the
brain's immune system. Normally, TNF finely regulates the transmission of
neural impulses in the brain. The authors hypothesized that elevated levels
of TNF in Alzheimer's disease interfere with this regulation. To reduce
elevated TNF, the authors gave patients an injection of an anti-TNF
therapeutic called etanercept. Excess TNF-alpha has been documented in the
cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's.
The new study documents a dramatic and unprecedented therapeutic effect in
an Alzheimer's patient: improvement within minutes following delivery of
perispinal etanercept, which is etanercept given by injection in the spine.
Etanercept (trade name Enbrel) binds and inactivates excess TNF. Etanercept
is FDA approved to treat a number of immune-mediated disorders and is used
off label in the study.
The use of anti-TNF therapeutics as a new treatment choice for many
diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and potentially even Alzheimer's, was
recently chosen as one of the top 10 health stories of 2007 by the Harvard
Health Letter.
Similarly, the Neurotechnology Industry Organization has recently selected
new treatment targets revealed by neuroimmunology (such as excess TNF) as
one of the top 10 Neuroscience Trends of 2007. And the Dana Alliance for
Brain Initiatives has chosen the pilot study using perispinal etanercept for
Alzheimer's for inclusion and discussion in their 2007 Progress Report on
Brain Research.
The lead author of the study, Edward Tobinick M.D., is an assistant clinical
professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles and
director of the Institute for Neurological Research, a private medical group
in Los Angeles. Hyman Gross, M.D., clinical professor of neurology at the
University of Southern California, was co-author.
The study is accompanied by an extensive commentary by Sue Griffin, Ph.D.,
director of research at the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging at the
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock and at the
Geriatric Research and Clinical Center at the VA Hospital in Little Rock,
who along with Robert Mrak, M.D., chairman of pathology at University of
Toledo Medical School, are editors-in-chief of the Journal of
Neuroinflammation.
Griffin and Mrak are pioneers in the field of neuroinflammation. Griffin
published a landmark study in 1989 describing the association of cytokine
overexpression in the brain and Alzheimer's disease. Her research helped
pave the way for the findings of the present study. Griffin has recently
been selected for membership in the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, a
nonprofit organization of more than 200 leading neuroscientists, including
ten Nobel laureates.
"It is unprecedented that we can see cognitive and behavioral improvement in
a patient with established dementia within minutes of therapeutic
intervention," said Griffin. "It is imperative that the medical and
scientific communities immediately undertake to further investigate and
characterize the physiologic mechanisms involved. This gives all of us in
Alzheimer's research a tremendous new clue about new avenues of research,
which is so exciting and so needed in the field of Alzheimer's. Even though
this report predominantly discusses a single patient, it is of significant
scientific interest because of the potential insight it may give into the
processes involved in the brain dysfunction of Alzheimer's."
While the article discusses one patient, many other patients with mild to
severe Alzheimer's received the treatment and all have shown sustained and
marked improvement.
