Beta Amyloid News and Research

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Avid, Cardinal Health partner to detect Alzheimer's disease in living patients

Currently, Alzheimer's disease cannot be definitively diagnosed until after death, when a brain autopsy is performed on a patient and evidence of beta-amyloid plaque deposits in the brain – which are a characteristic pathology of the disease – can be found. Accurate diagnosis during life can be challenging, particularly in the early stages of Alzheimer's, when symptoms are mild and non-definitive. However, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Inc. and Cardinal Health are working together to change that.

26 Mar 2010

Anesthesia can increase behavioral changes, risk of developing Alzheimer's disease

The use of repetitive anesthesia with isoflurane (one of the most common anesthetics by inhalation) increases the risk of developing changes similar to those observed in AD brains in mice with mutations of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). This is the main conclusion of Spanish researchers coordinated by Doctors Maria -ngeles Mena and Justo Garc-a de Y-benes, from CIBERNED (Centro de Investigaci-n Biom-dica en Red de Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas).

25 Mar 2010

Microglia contribute to loss of neurons linked with Alzheimer's disease

Microglia are the cells responsible for immune surveillance in the brain, and they initiate protective inflammatory reactions in response to tissue damage and infection. An international team under the leadership of LMU neuroscientist Professor Jochen Herms has now shown that these cells may actually make a significant contribution to the loss of neurons associated with Alzheimer's disease.

22 Mar 2010

Research confirms benefits of PET scan in early detection of Alzheimer's disease

Westside Medical Associates of Los Angeles and Westside Medical Imaging (WMI) of Beverly Hills announce the benefit of early positron emission tomography (PET) scanning to identify Alzheimer's in its early more treatable phase.

17 Mar 2010

UC Irvine researchers play leading role in genome sequencing of Hydra

UC Irvine researchers have played a leading role in the genome sequencing of Hydra, a freshwater polyp that has been a staple of biological research for 300 years.

15 Mar 2010

Failure of Alzheimer's drug Dimebon: Anavex Life Sciences comments

Anavex Life Sciences Corp. today issued a statement following today's announcement from Pfizer and Medivation (MDVN) that their investigational Alzheimer's drug Dimebon did not meet either its co-primary or secondary endpoints compared to placebo during pivotal Phase 3 clinical trials.

4 Mar 2010

Elevated cerebrospinal fluid levels of P-tau231 may be an early diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have found that elevated cerebrospinal fluid levels of phosphorylated tau231 (P-tau231), a damaged tau protein found in patients with Alzheimer's disease, may be an early diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer's disease in healthy adults.

23 Feb 2010

Intezyne announces new patents covering IVECT Method in major pharmaceutical markets

Intezyne today announced the issuance of new patents that cover multiple dimensions of the Company’s revolutionary technology platform, the IVECTTM Method, in the major pharmaceutical markets of the United States, Europe, and Japan. All patents are wholly owned by Intezyne.

18 Feb 2010

Intellect Neurosciences: Several significant stakeholders commit funds

Intellect Neurosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on development of disease-modifying therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease ("AD"), announced today that several of its significant shareholders (the "Interested Shareholders") have agreed in principle to provide interim funding to the Company and assist the Company in its efforts to restructure its balance sheet.

11 Feb 2010

Down syndrome and Alzheimer's disease are the same

Nearly 20 years ago Huntington Potter kicked up a storm of controversy with the idea that Down syndrome and Alzheimer's were the same disease. Now the evidence is in: He was right.

18 Jan 2010

Researchers seek to defeat Alzheimer's disease by modifying mice's immune system

Using laboratory mice that had been bred to have brain changes similar to Alzheimer's disease, scientists were able to reduce two characteristic features of the disease by modifying the mice's immune systems with a special peptide (MOG45D) related to the myelin sheath that insulates nerve cells and nerve fibers. As a result, anti-inflammatory cells were recruited from the blood into the brain, dampening the local inflammatory response.

7 Jan 2010

New evidence suggests long-term exposure to cell phone signals may protect against Alzheimer's disease

The millions of people who spend hours every day on a cell phone may have a new excuse for yakking. A surprising new study in mice provides the first evidence that long-term exposure to electromagnetic waves associated with cell phone use may actually protect against, and even reverse, Alzheimer's disease.

6 Jan 2010

PDL BioPharma enters into non-exclusive license agreement with Eli Lilly

PDL BioPharma, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a non-exclusive license agreement with Eli Lilly and Company under PDL's Queen et al patents with respect to teplizumab, a humanized anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody, as well as other potential next generation anti-CD3 molecules.

22 Dec 2009

Modulating PN aggregase pathway may offer hope for Alzheimer’s disease

Proteostasis Therapeutics announced today that modulating a key Proteostasis Network (PN) pathway may offer a novel approach to Alzheimer’s disease, a finding that was published in the journal Cell by its scientific founders Andrew Dillin, Ph.D., and Jeffery Kelly, Ph.D. The publication describes how regulation of an aggregase pathway reduced the neurodegenerative effects of beta amyloid aggregates that are a hallmark of the disease.

16 Dec 2009

Cerebrospinal fluid signature and PiB imaging help predict Alzheimer's disease

Early Alzheimer's disease detected by a compound that binds to brain plaques appears likely to progress into symptomatic Alzheimer's disease with dementia, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

15 Dec 2009

Mouse study shows delaying the ageing process may offer protection against Alzheimer’s disease

Aging is the single greatest risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. In their latest study, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies found that simply slowing the aging process in mice prone to develop Alzheimer's disease prevented their brains from turning into a neuronal wasteland.

10 Dec 2009

Successful reduction in the levels of aggregated Abeta with GSMs

EnVivo Pharmaceuticals today reported the successful reduction in the levels of aggregated Abeta or Beta-Amyloid in an aged transgenic model (Tg2576) of Alzheimer's disease with its lead gamma-secretase modulator (GSM) EVP-0962. The aggregated Abeta, containing predominately oligomeric and larger Abeta fibrillar species, is considered to be the toxic entity in Alzheimer's disease.

9 Dec 2009

Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals commences enrollment in florbetaben Phase III clinical trials

Today at the 95th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced the enrollment of the first patient in an international Phase III clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of florbetaben (BAY 94-9172) PET imaging in the detection of beta-Amyloid plaques in the brain, which are a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

30 Nov 2009

Study examines how dietary restriction and high-caloric diet influence biochemical responses

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine set out to address a question that has been challenging scientists for years: How do dietary restriction-and the reverse, overconsumption-produce protective effects against aging and disease?

23 Nov 2009

Bayer HealthCare's Phase II study results of imaging agent florbetaben

Bayer HealthCare presented results from a global Phase II study of florbetaben, its imaging agent in development for the detection of cerebral beta-Amyloid plaques, at the 19th World Congress of Neurology (WCN).

30 Oct 2009