Mayo Clinic Questions Focus of Drug Research

[Abstract]

Logo Attribution: MayoClinic.org

No sooner had Biogen reported on the encouraging results of its Phase 1 clinical trials last week , than the Mayo Clinic published the results of its brain bank analysis. The Mayo Clinic paper calls into question some fundamental assumptions of researchers who are focused on reducing Abeta protein in the brain as a means of slowing or stopping the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

THE BACK STORY

There has long been a divide within the research community,reported before in the blog, as to which protein played the more important role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease: Abeta proteins which form plaques outside of the brain cells, or Tau, which cause tangles inside the cell that lead to its death. Both proteins accumulate abnormally in the brains of those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, but no one yet understands why these proteins to build up, nor the interplay between these two proteins.

Pharmaceutical companies have targeted Abeta proteins for therapeutic intervention, since they appear before Tau tangles form. Their hypothesis is that the Abeta proteins trigger the development of Tau. Since Abeta proteins appear before Tau proteins, the assumption is that the cascade of damaging protein accumulation might be prevented if drugs successfully eliminate the build up of Abeta proteins.

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