Possible dementia vaccine in the offing

Scientists have successfully tested a preventive vaccine for dementia in animals, paving the way for clinical trials of the experimental treatment.

The study, published in in the journal Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, aims to develop effective immunotherapy via a new vaccine to remove the protein aggregates linked to Alzheimer's disease. Recent success in mice models supports progression of the MultiTEP platform-based vaccine to human trials in years to come, according to the researchers from Flinders University in Australia.

The research aims to come up with a new treatment to remove accumulated beta-amyloid (Aß) plaques composed of hyperphosphorylated tau proteins, which lead to neurodegeneration and cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of age-related dementia, the researchers said. Major challenges in AD include the lack of effective treatments, reliable biomarkers, or preventive strategies. The possible new therapies were tested in mice with mix Aß and tau pathologies. "Taken together, these findings warrant further development of this dual vaccination strategy based on the MultiTEP technology for ultimate testing in human Alzheimer's disease," researchers said. They said the new method involves a system to take the combination MultiTEP-based Aß/tau vaccines therapy, as well as separate vaccines targeting these pathological molecules, to clinical trials -- possibly within two years.

"Our approach is looking to cover all bases and get past previous roadblocks in finding a therapy to slow the accumulation of Aß/tau molecules and delay AD progression in a the rising number of people around the world," said Professor Nikolai Petrovsky. Several promising drug candidates have failed in clinical trials so the search for new preventions or therapies continues, the researchers said.