Metallic compound binder may decrease rate of decline in Alzeimer’s sufferer’s

A drug that binds to metal compounds and clears them from the body may slow cognitive decline in patients severely affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a new study suggests.

A drug that binds to metal compounds and clears them from the body may slow cognitive decline in patients severely affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a new study suggests. The drug, clioquinol, not only promotes the removal of zinc-copper compounds, it also makes beta-amyloid soluble allowing it to be eliminated, Dr. Colin L. Masters, at the University of Melbourne, and associates explain in their article in the Archives of Neurology. Beta-amyloid is the abnormal protein that characteristically accumulates in the brains of patients with AD. Lab studies have shown that decreasing brain amyloid-beta deposits in mice with a form of AD reduces the toxic effect of amyloid on neurons. In a 36-week study, 16 patients with moderately severe AD were given clioquinol and 16 were given an inactive placebo. The drug appeared to slow the worsening of cognitive scores when compared to patients in the placebo group. After 24 weeks, the trend was maintained until the end of the trial but the difference became less pronounced. “The findings support a proof of concept in humans that a drug targeting metal-amyloid beta interactions can have a significant effect on amyloid-beta metabolism and, through this, a beneficial modification on the progression of AD,” Masters’ group concludes. The drug seemed to be safe, with adverse events occurring no more often in the clioquinol group than in the placebo group. The one exception was the development of impaired visual acuity and color vision disturbance in one patient, which resolved when treatment was ceased. This type of drug “offers promise as a new therapeutic strategy,” maintains Dr. Roger N. Rosenberg, in an accompanying editorial. Dr. Rosenberg is on staff at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. (Source: Archives of Neurology, Reuter’s Health Dec 2003)