The Alzheimer’s Association has made available new funding to support researcher into the prevention of the disease. The financial shot in the arm for the Alzheimer’s disease research is $8 million. The fund will primarily go into the so-called Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease (A4) Study. This is where tests are carried out in […]
The Alzheimer’s Association has made available new funding to support researcher into the prevention of the disease. The financial shot in the arm for the Alzheimer’s disease research is $8 million. The fund will primarily go into the so-called Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease (A4) Study. This is where tests are carried out in people with high risks of Alzheimer’s disease but who are currently clinically healthy.
According to the A4 investigators, the money will support additional evaluation in the enrolled participates and further trial in some 500 volunteers outside the enrolled group. Among the projects, the funds will support what researchers call brain PET scans. This is where the burden of tau protein deposits on the brain of the participants is evaluated.
Reisa Sperling, co-principal investigator, said the scans will be done at baseline and repeated at 18 and 36 months in the study period. The investigators will be seeking to understand the effect of anti-amyloid antibody on tau burdens. Sperling further disclosed that natural history data that they have has shown that there is a correlation between amyloid and tau.
Alzheimer’s disease pathologies
However, since the investigators currently do not clearly know the correlation between amyloid and tau, they are excited about the study. They hope to find out that changing of amyloid slows down the spreading of tau. The main pathologies of Alzheimer’s disease are beta-amyloid plaques and tau protein. However, their contribution to the symptoms of Alzheimer’s is under research.
While advances have been made in the imaging of beta-amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease are patients, the case of tau is lagging behind. However, further studies are expected to help fill the gap.
1,000 participants
The A4 trial is supported by National Institutes of Health, Eli Lilly and some nonprofits. The study is expected to kick off later this year. Some 1,000 participates between the ages of 65-85 are expected to be enrolled in the trial after undergoing PET scans. About 3,000 people are expected to be screened as part of the selection for participants in the A4 trial.
Complex study with history of failure
Typically, A4 is a challenging study because most of the previous trials have ended up in failure. As a make-or-break study, the investigators are hoping to put in the best preparing to ensure that they succeed with the additional funding.
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