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DNA vaccine reduces both toxic proteins linked to Alzheimer’s

JacksinPA

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https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/articles/year-2018/dna-vaccine-alzheimers.html

DALLAS – Nov. 20, 2018 – A DNA vaccine tested in mice reduces accumulation of both types of toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease, according to research that scientists say may pave the way to a clinical trial.


A new study by UT Southwestern’s Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute shows that a vaccine delivered to the skin prompts an immune response that reduces buildup of harmful tau and beta-amyloid – without triggering severe brain swelling that earlier antibody treatments caused in some patients.

“This study is the culmination of a decade of research that has repeatedly demonstrated that this vaccine can effectively and safely target in animal models what we think may cause Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Roger Rosenberg, founding Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at UT Southwestern. “I believe we’re getting close to testing this therapy in people.”

The research published in Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy demonstrates how a vaccine containing DNA coding for a segment of beta-amyloid also reduces tau in mice modeled to have Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, the vaccine elicits a different immune response that may be safe for humans. Two previous studies from Dr. Rosenberg’s lab showed similar immune responses in rabbits and monkeys.
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This could be a major breakthrough in treating this disease.

One major pharma company - Pfizer - closed down a small molecule approach research effort recently. They were looking for an inhibitor for the enzyme that produces the amyloid proteins that interfere with normal brain function. I worked on that project, selling a raw material for the proposed drug candidate to their purchasing department in Kalamazoo, MI.

An effective agent for halting or slowing the progression of this disease would be a commercial mega drug.
 
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great news

I agree with you.

I heard today that as this disease progresses you even forget how to breath. People with this disease don't last long.

I broke my leg a few years ago & spent 3 1/2 weeks in a rehab center just to learn how to walk again - with a walker. The top floor was closed off, reserved for Alzheimer's patients. They were called the 'wanderers' by the staff. They had tight security to keep them from wandering off, hence their name.
 
https://www.utsouthwestern.edu/newsroom/articles/year-2018/dna-vaccine-alzheimers.html

DALLAS – Nov. 20, 2018 – A DNA vaccine tested in mice reduces accumulation of both types of toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease, according to research that scientists say may pave the way to a clinical trial.


A new study by UT Southwestern’s Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute shows that a vaccine delivered to the skin prompts an immune response that reduces buildup of harmful tau and beta-amyloid – without triggering severe brain swelling that earlier antibody treatments caused in some patients.

“This study is the culmination of a decade of research that has repeatedly demonstrated that this vaccine can effectively and safely target in animal models what we think may cause Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Roger Rosenberg, founding Director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at UT Southwestern. “I believe we’re getting close to testing this therapy in people.”

The research published in Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy demonstrates how a vaccine containing DNA coding for a segment of beta-amyloid also reduces tau in mice modeled to have Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, the vaccine elicits a different immune response that may be safe for humans. Two previous studies from Dr. Rosenberg’s lab showed similar immune responses in rabbits and monkeys.
================================================
This could be a major breakthrough in treating this disease.

One major pharma company - Pfizer - closed down a small molecule approach research effort recently. They were looking for an inhibitor for the enzyme that produces the amyloid proteins that interfere with normal brain function. I worked on that project, selling a raw material for the proposed drug candidate to their purchasing department in Kalamazoo, MI.

An effective agent for halting or slowing the progression of this disease would be a commercial mega drug.

I just hope that they get on with the trials asap. My mom has early stages of alzheimers....
 
Ridiculously premature.

We don’t even know what actually causes Alzheimer’s.
So even if you have a success with this drug in terms of a protein target- no one really knows if that’s the target you need.


The road to dementia treatment is littered with failures.


https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2018/11/15/failure-shouldnt-be-such-an-orphan

“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” ~ Thomas A. Edison

“Giving up is the only sure way to fail.” ~ Gena Showalter
 
“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” ~ Thomas A. Edison

“Giving up is the only sure way to fail.” ~ Gena Showalter

No one said to give up.

But there are probably a dozen other investigational routes happening that are just as viable.

Chances are probably 90% that they all fail.

Making medicine is really hard.
 
Ridiculously premature.

We don’t even know what actually causes Alzheimer’s.
So even if you have a success with this drug in terms of a protein target- no one really knows if that’s the target you need.


The road to dementia treatment is littered with failures.


https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2018/11/15/failure-shouldnt-be-such-an-orphan

Would counter that it is your post that is ridiculous.

Progress is being explicitly shown on a treatment for a devastating/tragic disease. That is a good thing.

Your seeming dismissal of these reports displaying visible success in the quest for a cure are just silly.
 
Would counter that it is your post that is ridiculous.

Progress is being explicitly shown on a treatment for a devastating/tragic disease. That is a good thing.

Your seeming dismissal of these reports displaying visible success in the quest for a cure are just silly.

I guess I’ve just been around a while and know how these types of things go.

99% failure rates in Alzheimers, a disease where the cause is uncertain and the main trials targeting the theoretical cause seem to have spectacularly failed means that a treatment at Phase 1, which has a 90% failure rate even in the best of circumstances, is even less likely in Alzheimer’s.

Redirect Notice
 
https://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20180725/new-drug-shows-promise-against-alzheimers

New Drug Shows Promise Against Alzheimer's
By Brenda Goodman, MA
MRI Scan of human brain
July 25, 2018 -- After a string of failures in Alzheimer’s disease treatment, drug companies say they might have a medication that both clears toxic amyloid proteins from the brain and significantly slows the rate of a patient’s mental decline.

In early July, drugmakers Biogen and Eisai set the Alzheimer’s world abuzz with news that they had an experimental drug -- BAN2401 -- that had shown positive results in human patients. At the time, they put out a news release touting their results as a first, and promised to show the actual study data at an upcoming medical meeting.

On Wednesday, they finally released the results everyone was waiting to see, and they were greeted by cautious optimism at the 2018 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Chicago.
==========================================================
Not everything is perfect in this trial but every result adds to our store of information about how to fight this disease.

More on this drug study: https://www.alzforum.org/therapeutics/ban2401. This drug is a biologic, a humanized antibody. This class of drugs is very expensive.
 
https://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20180725/new-drug-shows-promise-against-alzheimers

New Drug Shows Promise Against Alzheimer's
By Brenda Goodman, MA
MRI Scan of human brain
July 25, 2018 -- After a string of failures in Alzheimer’s disease treatment, drug companies say they might have a medication that both clears toxic amyloid proteins from the brain and significantly slows the rate of a patient’s mental decline.

In early July, drugmakers Biogen and Eisai set the Alzheimer’s world abuzz with news that they had an experimental drug -- BAN2401 -- that had shown positive results in human patients. At the time, they put out a news release touting their results as a first, and promised to show the actual study data at an upcoming medical meeting.

On Wednesday, they finally released the results everyone was waiting to see, and they were greeted by cautious optimism at the 2018 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Chicago.
==========================================================
Not everything is perfect in this trial but every result adds to our store of information about how to fight this disease.

More on this drug study: https://www.alzforum.org/therapeutics/ban2401. This drug is a biologic, a humanized antibody. This class of drugs is very expensive.

Redirect Notice
 
I just hope that they get on with the trials asap. My mom has early stages of alzheimers....

When I first read about this, my question was why go through a lengthy trial? Early stages, and knowing what is to come, what does a patient with that horrible disease really have to lose?

Sorry about your Mom. Alzheimers affects the person, the family, friends.
 
When I first read about this, my question was why go through a lengthy trial? Early stages, and knowing what is to come, what does a patient with that horrible disease really have to lose?

Sorry about your Mom. Alzheimers affects the person, the family, friends.

Many drug candidates have nasty side effects that only come out during trials. Liver toxicity is one such. Dying because of liver failure would not be high on my list of ways to check out.
 
Many drug candidates have nasty side effects that only come out during trials. Liver toxicity is one such. Dying because of liver failure would not be high on my list of ways to check out.

And even more simply don’t work when you test it in s controlled, blinded fashion.
 
And even more simply don’t work when you test it in s controlled, blinded fashion.

You seem to be framing a position of: "They shouldn't test it because it may not work."

Which sounds a little silly.
 
You seem to be framing a position of: "They shouldn't test it because it may not work."

Which sounds a little silly.

No. The opposite.

An anecdote or theory that something works has to be tested in s blinded fashion.

And you can’t say it’s effective or safe until that’s done.
 
No. The opposite.

An anecdote or theory that something works has to be tested in s blinded fashion.

And you can’t say it’s effective or safe until that’s done.

Okay. Fair enough.
 
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