Brain Inflammation and Plaque Targeted in New Study

One of the more promising new studies reported at this week’s Alzheimer’s Conference in Boston targets inflammation, plaque and microglia. This is refreshing to see, as inflammation has long been known to be a major factor in Alzheimer’s. In fact at least 4 major studies have suggested that if we could adequately control inflammation in the brain we could cut risk for Alzheimer’s in half.  However, it’s believed that this inflammation can be triggered by beta amyloid plaque – which may result from oxidative stress in the brain or a virus.

Microglia are cells that act as the first and main form of active immune defense in the brain and spinal cord where they must react quickly to decrease inflammation and protect sensitive tissues. But their role has been puzzling to researchers. Generally they protect cells but sometimes they can be harmful as well. (We discuss their role in chapter 5b of our book Alzheimer’s Can Be Stopped Now! Here’s How) It has been recently suggested that amyloid plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s can stimulate microglia to produce compounds that cause brain cell damage. Thus, microglia have become a novel target for Alzheimer’s disease therapies, as well as agents that reduce this plaque.

CHF5074 (Chiesi Pharmaceuticals Inc., Parma, Italy) is a microglial modulator that, in preliminary studies, has also been shown to prevent brain plaque deposition and reduce deficits in the hippocampus (memory center) in transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. This worked well in a 2010 study with mice, the question has been can it help humans.

This was a a14-week double-blind, placebo-controlled study followed by a 76-week open label extension. It involved 60 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) divided into 3 groups. The groups were given either 200, 400 or 600 mg of this agent daily.

An interim analysis of cognitive tests of 27 patients reaching Study Week 88 showed statistically significant, dose-dependent improvements in participants’ cognitive abilities. Study participants who carried one or two copies of the ApoE4 gene, which increases the risk of Alzheimer’s, performed significantly better than ApoE4 non-carriers on two of the cognitive tests (they likely had more plaque and inflammation issues than the others).

“This is one of the first studies indicating that this neuroinflammatory inhibitor may be able to improve cognition in people with MCI who carry the ApoE4 gene,” said Joel Ross, MD who led this study. “CHF5074 was well tolerated by people with MCI at doses up to and including 400 mg/day.”

While it will likely be years before this new drug becomes available to the public on page 68  of our book we cite research from Tufts University showing that “blueberries and strawberries reduce brain inflammation,… and reduce activation of microglia as well as the brain-destructive chemicals from the microglia.” As a result the Tufts study found that animals fed these powerful neuroprotective flavonoids showed reduced oxidative stress in their brains, and improved learning abilities.  Interestingly, these extracts also increase levels of the antioxidant vitamin E in the hippocampus, where memories are made. Extracts of green tea and resveratrol from grape skins have also been shown to have similar effects on microglia and inflammation.

For all the latest conference News go to: http://www.alz.org/aaic/2013_news_releases.asp