A study in mice suggests using cellphones may help prevent some of the brain-wasting effects of Alzheimer’s disease, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

After long-term exposure to electromagnetic waves such as those used in cell phones, mice genetically altered to develop Alzheimer’s performed as well on memory and thinking skill tests as healthy mice, the researchers wrote in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

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The results were a major surprise and open the possibility of developing a noninvasive, drug-free treatment for Alzheimer’s, said lead author Gary Arendash of the University of South Florida.

He said he had expected cell phone exposure to increase the effects of dementia.

“Quite to the contrary, those mice were protected if the cell phone exposure was stared in early adulthood. Or if the cellphone exposure was started after they were already memory- impaired, it reversed that impairment,” Arendash said in a telephone interview.

Arendash’s team exposed the mice to electromagnetic waves equivalent to those emitted by a cellphone pressed against a human head for two hours daily over seven to nine months.

At the end of that time, they found cellphone exposure erased a build-up of beta amyloid, a protein that serves as a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.

The Alzheimer’s mice showed improvement and had reversal of their brain pathology, he said.

“It (the electromagnetic wave) prevents the aggregation of that bad protein of the brain,” Arendash said. “The findings are intriguing to us because they open up a whole new field in neuroscience, we believe, which is the long-term effects of electromagnetic fields on memory.”

Arendash said his team was modifying the experiment to see if they could produce faster results and begin testing humans.

Despite decades of research, there are few effective treatments and no cure for Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia. Many treatments that have shown promise in mice have had little effect on humans.

More than 35 million people globally will suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia in 2010, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

There has been recent controversy about whether electromagnetic waves from cellphones cause brain cancer.

Co-author Chuanhai Cao said the mice study is more evidence that long-term cellphone use is not harmful to the brain.

Groups such as the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society, and the National Institutes of Health, have all concluded that scientific evidence to date does not support any adverse health effects associated with the use of cellphones.

Source: Reuters

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“Anavex believes that oxidative stress, not amyloid-beta, is the cause of Alzheimer’s; seeking partners for early-stage compound, executives say”

Anavex Life Sciences (OTCBB: AVXL) believes that oxidative stress, not amyloid-beta, is the cause of Alzheimer’s disease, and is currently seeking partners to develop an early-stage compound, according to Harvey Lalach, co-founder, president, chief financial officer and director.

Lead candidate ANAVEX 1-41 has a synergistic neuroprotective and anti-apoptotic effect in animal models that use amyloid (beta) 25-35 peptide to simulate the condition, according to results presented at the 2008 International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease.

“If something comes across the table, we’ll address it,” Lalach said about potential partnerships. “The game plan would be to move one compound through Phase I in CNS. And if something comes to the table prior to that, we would seriously look at that.”

There has been “significant interest” from big pharma in both the company and its compounds, he noted, adding that there is a need for capital moving forward, as R&D to develop an Alzheimer’s candidate is very costly. “With additional capital, we can move other compounds into Phase I. We also have oncology compounds at various stages of development,” he said.

Companies developing late-stage candidates in Alzheimer’s include Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), Wyeth (NYSE:WYE), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY). Avanex became publicly listed through a reverse takeover at the beginning of 2007, Lalach noted. The company was funded privately with approximately USD 15m in research capital. “It got to the point where the results were encouraging, and investors wanted to move this compound forward as soon as possible,” he said.

The company’s SIGMACEPTOR-N program involves the discovery and development of drug candidates targeting neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, epilepsy and depression.

Sigma-1 receptors have been cloned and shown to be distinct from any known receptor class. In the central nervous system, they have been shown to be involved in the modulation of neurotransmitter receptor function, neurotransmitter release and response, as well as memory and learning processes, demonstrating potential neuroprotective and anti-amnesic properties.

“The lead compound comes from the sigma receptor platform, which is a proprietary platform technology that generates molecules based on sigma ligands and receptors,” Lalach said. There is interest from large pharma, as the platform has a potential to create multiple compounds across a variety of different disease indications, he said. George Kalkanis, Anavex’s co-founder and vice-president for strategic planning, said to the surprise of the Alzheimer’s community, it turns out that the current market leader, Pfizer’s Aricept, also affects sigma ligand. Pre-clinical experiments in mice showed that Anavex’s drug can attain all these synergistic receptors, he noted.

“We don’t care if the neuronal toxicities are coming from amyloid or not,” he said. “It turns out that diluting or reducing amyloid beta protein is not a means of treating Alzheimer’s disease.”

The failure of Neurochem and Myriad Genetics’ Alzheimer’s candidates – which worked to reduce or prevent amyloid build-up – is proof of the fact that targeting the amyloid pathway may be wrong, said Kalkanis. Alzheimer’s is due to oxidative stress, and amyloid beta may be a result of oxidative stress, he noted. The oxidative stress pathway may also activate other undesirable effects. The amyloid plaques can come initially as a defense, which is why they accumulate in the brain, he said.

Anavex plans to conduct a single dose-ascending study, which will include 40 volunteers in Europe. A multiple ascending dose study will include 24 volunteers, according to Kalkanis. “These studies will be able to establish the profile of the drug.”

The company is open to any prospects, said Lalach. “Our strategic initiative is to raise some money from investors and advance our first compound to the end of Phase I and beginning of Phase II trials,” he added. “We don’t exclude any proposals for partnership.”

The company recently appointed Dr Mark Smith – a leading researcher who is executive director of the American Aging Association and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease – to its scientific advisory board. “We’re in the process of upscaling synthesis of the compound, and selecting the right contract research organization,” Lalach said. Anavex has a market cap of USD 50m.

Source: Pharmawire

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A study published in the November issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (Volume 15:3) suggests the reliability of the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale – Cognitive (ADAS-Cog) may vary and possess the ability to affect clinical trial outcomes.

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Moreover, this study further suggests that ADAS-Cog rater training and experience are factors that contribute to variances seen in this assessment tool.

The importance of a reliable diagnosis of the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is critical as new pharmacotherapies are being developed. The ADAS-cog is considered the gold-standard and the most popular cognitive testing instrument used in clinical trials to detect changes in the core symptoms of AD.

This study critically looks at various factors that might influence the way the ADAS-cog is administered and therefore may lead to and yield unintended outcomes. The study found factors such as rater training, rater education, variance in time allotment during testing as well as rater experience and individual judgment may contribute to variance in scoring when using this assessment.

“Clinical trials for the possible treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias are becoming more expansive and being run in many countries. The necessity for the primary outcome instrument to be administered consistently in different countries, cultures and between different clinical trials is critical if we are to determine which treatment works better than others. Any variability in how the instruments are administered can adversely affect the ability to detect positive outcomes,” says Donald Connor PhD, PhD, director of neuropsychology at Banner Health’s Sun Health Research Institute.

Rater experiences were not the only factors that contributed to variances in ADAS-cog scoring. The study also suggested that test materials changed over time including large ranges in the quality of naming materials, word card decks, instruction manuals and worksheets, all factors that can affect outcomes.

“Even as we try to develop better instruments for the detection of meaningful change we must make sure that our current instruments are utilized as effectively as possible,” Dr. Connor says. “As the population continues to age rapidly and new Alzheimer’s medications are being developed, it is critical that all who are involved in clinical evaluation and testing does so with precision and consistency.”

Source: Medical News Today

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