Alzheimer's patch is effective

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University of South Florida researchers have reported that a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease, in the form of a patch, has demonstrated its effectiveness in clearing brain-damaging plaques from a mouse model. The Alzheimer's vaccine works by triggering the immune system to recognize the beta amyloid protein that abnormally builds up in the brains of Alzheimer's patients as a foreign invader and attack it.

This study is the first to demonstrate that immunization using the skin may be an effective way to reduce the beta amyloid protein. It may offer a simpler way of preventing or treating the neurodegenerative disease with less likelihood of adverse immune reactions. Previous research on an injectable Alzheimer's vaccine was suspended indefinitely when the initial clinical trial caused brain inflammation and death in a small percentage of patients. Patients also experienced an autoimmune reaction, which occurred when immune cells aggressively attacked the body's own proteins produced by the vaccine.

The USF researchers targeted the skin as the route of vaccine delivery in mice bred to develop age-related brain degeneration mimicking Alzheimer's. They found that transdermal immunization did not appear to trigger specific toxicities associated with past immunization strategies. The scientists plan to further test whether the transdermal vaccine can curb memory loss in Alzheimer's mice. If the studies show clear cognitive benefits, clinical trials to evaluate a beta amyloid skin patch or topical cream in patients with Alzheimer's would be warranted.