Author Archives: Charlotte Baker

Researchers have found that amyloid, the protein that forms toxic aggregates, or clumps in the brain and is thought to be involved in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), accumulates faster in people with subtle cognitive difficulties compared with cognitively normal people. These findings suggest that measurements of…

DNA from various species of bacteria, some of which — like E. coli — have been identified in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, can cause the tau protein to fold incorrectly and form the toxic, clump-like structures increasingly thought to play a key role in disease progression. The study…

Two investigational treatments, solanezumab and gantenerumab, failed to prevent memory loss or cognitive decline in patients with a rare, inherited form of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, who were enrolled in a Phase 2/3 clinical trial (NCT01760005). Despite these results, the data collected will prove useful for identifying…

Using the gene editing technology CRISPR-Cas9 like a pair of “DNA scissors,” researchers were able to essentially cut out the beta-secretase 1 (BACE1) gene in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, a study shows. Deleting this gene — which drives the production of amyloid-β proteins in…

A molecular chaperone called TPT-172 was able to prevent proteins linked to Alzheimer’s — including amyloid-beta and tau — from building up in the brain, improve memory and ease brain inflammation when tested in a mouse model of the disease. The study, “A pharmacological chaperone improves memory by…

A Phase 1b trial has started dosing Alzheimer’s patients with Alector’s candidate immune system-targeting therapy, called AL003, to evaluate its safety and tolerability, the company has announced. AL003 is an antibody which targets sialic acid binding Ig-like lectin 3 (SIGLEC 3, also known as CD33). SIGLEC 3 is…

Researchers have found large deposits of aluminum and amyloid-beta — the protein that forms toxic aggregates in the brain and is thought to be involved in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease — in the same brain regions of patients with familial Alzheimer’s. Their findings point towards a…

Soybean oil, an increasingly common cooking oil, especially in the United States, can cause changes in the brain that could be linked to diabetes, inflammation, and brain disorders, an early study in mice suggests. This oil, a type of polyunsaturated fat, is used to fry fast foods, added to…