News

Manipulating astrocytes — a type of cell in the brain — to deliver a protein that favors the survival of neurons can rescue cognitive function, including memory, in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, a study reports. The study, “Conditional BDNF delivery from astrocytes rescues memory deficits, spine density…

Abnormal levels of amyloid-beta and tau protein — two hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease — were detected in the cerebrospinal fluid of older  individuals without dementia who were hospitalized for hip fractures, a study shows. These findings suggest that alterations that can cause diminished balance in older people may underly both increased…

Hispanic-American patients with Alzheimer’s disease tend to live significantly longer after disease onset and with milder cognitive decline than African-Americans and non-Hispanic whites, a study reports. The study, “Ethnoracial differences in Alzheimer’s disease from the FLorida Autopsied Multi-Ethnic (FLAME) cohort,” was published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

Sterubin, an active chemical compound extracted from a native California plant, was found to hold neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory potential for Alzheimer’s disease, a study shows. The study, “Old age-associated phenotypic screening for Alzheimer’s disease drug candidates identifies sterubin as a potent neuroprotective…

A Phase 1 clinical trial in healthy volunteers for investigational therapy AZP2006 — an oral medicine that is meant to clear accumulations of toxic proteins in Alzheimer’s disease and progressive supranuclear palsy — has shown positive results, says the therapy’s developer, AlzProtect. Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a rare, progressive disease…

Denali Therapeutics has begun dosing patients in its Phase 1b clinical trial of DNL747 as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. “We are excited to advance DNL747 in a second neurodegeneration indication based on Phase 1 healthy volunteer data regarding DNL747’s safety profile, CNS [central nervous system] penetration, and target engagement, at the studied doses,”…

A Phase 2 trial is enrolling patients with moderate Alzheimer’s to test an investigational antibody known as RO7105705 that targets the Tau protein. The Genentech-sponsored multicenter, randomized study (NCT03828747) intends to assess the efficacy, safety, and pharmacological profile of RO7105705. The company plans to recruit 260…

All his life, Greg O’Brien has had a front-row seat for Alzheimer’s disease. Growing up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, he was the caregiver in a family of 10 children for his mother. His maternal grandfather and paternal uncle had Alzheimer’s, and his father was diagnosed with dementia and had…

Boosting mitophagy — a natural process that clears neurons from damaged mitochondria (cells’ energy powerhouses) — decreased amyloid plaque formation and reversed cognitive deficits, namely memory impairments, across different animal models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). “When the cleaning system does not work properly, there will be an accumulation of defective…

Use of anti-epileptic therapy is not linked to an increased risk of dementia, according to the results of a real-world study with more than 100,000 patients followed in general and neuropsychiatrist practices in Germany. However, generic forms of the anti-epileptic medicine levetiracetam may potentially have a deleterious effect on cognition.