More on Alzheimer's Immunotherapy

An illustrative release via ScienceDaily shows how rapid advances in biotechnology are leading to a flood of new information on our biochemistry, here on the interaction of Alzheimer's disease and the immune system: "Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the build-up of amyloid plaques in the brain. These are large aggregations of a protein breakdown product, or peptide, called A-beta. Many experiments have shown that immunization with A-beta can reduce the formation of amyloid plaques. Clinical trials now underway are exploring whether this can safely produce cognitive benefits in Alzheimer's patients, while other trials are treating patients directly with antibodies to A-beta. ... Other studies have found antibodies against A-beta, but nobody has ever done a large-scale analysis using hundreds of different samples and almost a hundred different peptides to look for what's already in people's bodies ... investigators customized microarrays containing close to 100 different peptides apiece, including A-beta and several of its metabolized, modified, and mutant forms. ... They observed antibodies targeting many forms and aggregation-states of A-beta in both healthy and diseased subjects' blood ... They then showed that overall levels of these antibodies decline with age and, in those with Alzheimer's, with advancing stages of the disease."

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706171458.htm

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