Transdermal Alzheimer's vaccine in the works
Vaccines are becoming the new medical hotness. Cervical cancer, otitis media, shingles, and now a second Alzheimer's effort. (I covered the first one here.)
This time it's a transdermal vaccine that's working in mouse models. Mouse models, of course, don't translate to successful human trials, but it's a good start. This vaccine works by causing the immune system to recognize the toxic amyloid beta proteins and triggering an attack on them.
Why transdermal?
They found that transdermal immunization with Ab does not appear to trigger specific toxicities associated with past immunization strategies.
Specialized immune cells prevalent in the skin, called Langerhans, may direct the body's reaction to the vaccine toward a response that is beneficial instead of overly aggressive and ultimately harmful, Dr. Tan said.
They're hopeful that they can reduce memory loss and reduce the relevant population's senile plaque burden.
"If those studies show clear cognitive benefits," Dr. Tan said, "we believe clinical trials to evaluate a beta amyloid skin patch or topical cream in patients with Alzheimer's would be warranted."
Har har. Emphasis mine.
[tags]Medicine, vaccine, Alzheimer's, geriatrics[/tags]
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