Alzheimer outlook

Medical News & Perspectives

February 15, 2017

Alzheimer Outlook Far From Bleak

Jeff Lyon

Article Information

JAMA. Published online February 15, 2017. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.0276

The neurovascular unit comprises neurons (pink), astrocytes (blue), microglia (green), arterioles and capillaries (white). The blood brain barrier, formed by the endothelial cell membranes of blood vessels within the neurovascular unit, regulates amyloid-β clearance.

Zlokovic Lab

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Alzheimer Outlook Far From Bleak

Last summer, deep disappointment befell the Alzheimer disease (AD) community when study results showed that the widely heralded experimental drug LMTX had failed to help AD patients. In November, another promising drug, solanezumab, also dashed hopes. Because these drugs target either amyloid β (solanezumab) or tau (LMTX), proteins that aggregate into the plaques and tangles in brain tissue characteristic of AD, some have suggested that researchers are following the wrong path by attacking these proteins and that AD research is back to square one after decades of work./.../