2008 Woodie Awards
Rush studies vaccine for Alzheimer's
Kate Lee
Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Pulse
Rush University Medical Center is the only site out of others in North America and Europe that is currently participating in a first-in-human Phase I clinical trial of an experimental Alzheimer's vaccine. The investigative vaccine is targeted against beta-amyloid (A) which is a peptide - a segment of a protein - that researchers claim to be associated with the destruction of nerve cells in Alzheimer's disease.
This development is crucial during a time when "the number of individuals with AD will increase from 4.5 million in the US to over 13 million with the aging of the Baby Boom generation," explained Dr. Raj Shah, assistant professor at the Rush University Medical Center's Alzheimer's Disease Center, "[Alzheimer's] is already the third most expensive disease to take care of."
The theory behind this study is that beta-amyloid creates toxic aggregates in the brain that injure nerve cells. Researchers hope to reduce this nerve cell damage by creating an immune response against A peptides. The specific immune response and its effects in regards to A aggregation have yet to be determined by the results of the study.
Janie Urbanic, research study and clinical supervisor at the Memory Clinic in Rush University Medical Center, explained that "beta-amyloid is involved in the development and progression of Alzheimer's. So the purpose of the study is to test the vaccine against beta-amyloid."
Last December, UIC chemist Yoshitaka Ishii made a discovery regarding A. He and his colleagues found that before beta-amyloid plaques are formed, there is an intermediate stage in which tiny spheres form and they have been found to be ten times more poisonous to nerve cells than their final beta-amyloid structures. Dr. Shah said that "currently, there is still basic research that needs to be done to determine if the vaccines remove soluble beta-amyloid or directly affect the amyloid in plaques in the brain."
The study aims to determine the safest possible dose of V950, a vaccine that is composed of fragmented A. The researchers will then use this dose for further trials to see the vaccine's effects on the patients' immune systems. The primary goal of a Phase I study is to determine what dose of the vaccine is safe in humans. "The study will test V950's immunogenicity and tolerability," said Urbanic, who goes on to say that the experiment hopes to have "80 percent of the patients with 0.5mL of V950 and 20 percent given the placebo."
This development is crucial during a time when "the number of individuals with AD will increase from 4.5 million in the US to over 13 million with the aging of the Baby Boom generation," explained Dr. Raj Shah, assistant professor at the Rush University Medical Center's Alzheimer's Disease Center, "[Alzheimer's] is already the third most expensive disease to take care of."
The theory behind this study is that beta-amyloid creates toxic aggregates in the brain that injure nerve cells. Researchers hope to reduce this nerve cell damage by creating an immune response against A peptides. The specific immune response and its effects in regards to A aggregation have yet to be determined by the results of the study.
Janie Urbanic, research study and clinical supervisor at the Memory Clinic in Rush University Medical Center, explained that "beta-amyloid is involved in the development and progression of Alzheimer's. So the purpose of the study is to test the vaccine against beta-amyloid."
Last December, UIC chemist Yoshitaka Ishii made a discovery regarding A. He and his colleagues found that before beta-amyloid plaques are formed, there is an intermediate stage in which tiny spheres form and they have been found to be ten times more poisonous to nerve cells than their final beta-amyloid structures. Dr. Shah said that "currently, there is still basic research that needs to be done to determine if the vaccines remove soluble beta-amyloid or directly affect the amyloid in plaques in the brain."
The study aims to determine the safest possible dose of V950, a vaccine that is composed of fragmented A. The researchers will then use this dose for further trials to see the vaccine's effects on the patients' immune systems. The primary goal of a Phase I study is to determine what dose of the vaccine is safe in humans. "The study will test V950's immunogenicity and tolerability," said Urbanic, who goes on to say that the experiment hopes to have "80 percent of the patients with 0.5mL of V950 and 20 percent given the placebo."
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