A promising new approach to potentially treating, and vaccinating against Alzheimer’s disease has been developed by researchers at the University of Leicester, the University Medical Center, Göttingen, and the medical research charity LifeArc. Rather than focus on the amyloid beta (Aβ) protein plaques in the brain—which are commonly associated with Alzheimer’s disease—the antibody and vaccine both target a different, soluble form of the protein, which is thought to be highly toxic. The team’s studies, reported in Molecular Psychiatry, showed that both the antibody-based treatment and the protein-based vaccine reduced Alzheimer’s symptoms in mouse models of the disease.
