Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston Massachusetts will soon begin Phase I trials of a nasal vaccine designed to prevent or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a press release said. This is the first occasion when a nasal vaccine is being attempted for the disease, which affects more than six million people in the U.S. alone.
First seen in a patient way back in 1906 by Dr. Alois Alzheimer, the disease is a brain disorder characterized by the presence of clumps (amyloid plaques) and tangled fibers (tau tangles) between nerve cells (neurons) in the brain. Symptoms of the disease, which is usually seen in adults in their 60s, vary from memory issues to vision loss and even impaired reasoning.
The cause of the disease has long been questioned and researchers only recently believed to have come to the root of it. Research for a cure has been ongoing for decades, however, most interventions are aimed at reducing the severity of the symptoms. The vaccine to be trialed aims to change this.
The nasal vaccine trial
Howard L. Weiner, co-director of a center that studies neurological disease at Brigham has been researching the development of AD for over 20 years. Previous studies have shown that the immune cells in the body play a role in the removal of the amyloid plaques from the brain. Therefore, the researchers are using an immune modulator called Protollin to stimulate the immune system and remove the plaques.
Protollin is an intranasal agent derived by mixing specific cell components of different bacteria and is already used as an adjuvant, to generate greater immune response for other vaccines. The researchers are hopeful that by triggering the immune system, specifically the white blood cells from the lymph node located in the neck area, the vaccine will clear out plaques in AD patients too.
The trial will include 16 participants between the age of 60 and 85 years who have been diagnosed with symptomatic, early-stage AD, the press release said. Trial participants will receive two doses of the vaccine, one week apart. The main aim of the trial is to determine if the vaccine is safe and can be tolerated at the dosages planned. If successful, the same mode of treatment could be used for other neurodegenerative diseases, the press release said.
Interestingly, another possible treatment and vaccine strategy for AD was published earlier this month and will move to human trials soon.
News
Smart contact lenses for cancer diagnostics and screening
Scientists from the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) have developed a contact lens that can capture and detect exosomes, nanometer-sized vesicles found in bodily secretions which have the potential for being diagnostic cancer [...]
Novel Nanoplatform Found Effective Against Esophageal Cancer
Among the total number of deaths caused by different types of cancer, esophageal cancer is the sixth most significant. Several conventional treatments, such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and surgery have multiple side effects, including off-target [...]
Stem Cell Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles in Tumor Therapy
Cell membrane-coated nanoparticles, applied in targeted drug delivery strategies, combine the intrinsic advantages of synthetic nanoparticles and cell membranes. Although stem cell-based delivery systems were highlighted for their targeting capability in tumor therapy, inappropriate [...]
The TB Vaccine Mysteriously Protects Against Lots of Things. Now We Know Why
When babies in the African countries of Guinea Bissau and Uganda were given the tuberculosis vaccine, something remarkable happened. Instead of the vaccine only protecting against the target bacteria – Myocbacterium tuberculosis – the tuberculosis vaccine offered broad protection against a [...]
Extinct Pathogens Ushered The Fall of Ancient Civilizations, Scientists Say
Thousands of years ago, across the Eastern Mediterranean, multiple Bronze Age civilizations took a distinct turn for the worse at around the same time. The Old Kingdom of Egypt and the Akkadian Empire both collapsed, and there was [...]
The Origins of Covid-19 Are More Complicated Than Once Thought
IN OCTOBER 2014, virologist Edward Holmes took a tour of the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, a once relatively overlooked city of about 11 million people in the central Chinese province of Hubei. The market would [...]
Self-Healable, Human-Like Artificial Skin
Self-healable ionic sensing materials with fatigue resistance are imperative in robotics and soft electronics for extended service life. The existing artificial ionic skins with self-healing capacity were prepared by network reconfiguration, constituting low-energy amorphous [...]
Nanoparticles increase light scattering, boost solar cell performance
As demand for solar energy rises around the world, scientists are working to improve the performance of solar devices—important if the technology is to compete with traditional fuels. But researchers face theoretical limits on [...]
Scientists Use Shrimp Shell Nanoparticles to Strengthen Cement
When shrimp shell nanoparticles were mixed into cement paste, the material became substantially stronger — researchers propose an innovation that could lead to less seafood waste and fewer carbon dioxide emissions from concrete production. [...]
Does This Video Show A Nanobot Inseminating Egg With “Lazy” Sperm?
A black-and-white video shared on social media showed a microscopic corkscrew-shaped helix as it appeared to consume a sperm, transport it, and ultimately lead the little swimmer into the wall of an [...]
Study Could Help Reduce Environmental Risk of Quantum Dots
Polymers containing quantum dots (QDs) are considered crucial components of next-generation consumer items, but ambiguity remains regarding how these compounds may negatively affect public health and the environment. A pre-proof paper from the Journal of Hazardous [...]
New nanocomposite copper coating could be the next superbug fighter
A new copper coating that kills bacteria quicker and in greater amounts than current formulations could soon be available for hospitals and other high-traffic facilities. Although current formulations made of pure copper are antibacterial [...]
Vaccinating against cancer? A new class of nanoparticle vaccines developed
A vaccination as tumor therapy - with a vaccine individually created from a patient's tissue sample that " attaches" the body's own immune system to cancer cells: the basis for this long-term vision has [...]
New Insight Into Nanoassemblies for Specific Cancer Therapy
Although retinoic acid (RA) can induce cell death, its weak anticancer efficacy limits its clinical applications. To this end, stimulus-responsive self-assembling prodrug-based nanomedicines are promising candidates that enable controlled drug delivery. In an article [...]
Affordable Sources of Commercial Graphene for Energy Applications
Graphene is a multifunctional carbon nanomaterial widely synthesized for its applications in composites, energy storage, and sensors. Although previous reviews mentioned that achieving an increased yield compromises graphene quality, limiting its commercialization, recent research [...]
Centaurus: what we know about the new COVID variant and why there’s no cause for alarm
A new COVID variant has recently been detected in several countries including the UK, US, India, Australia and Germany. Called BA.2.75, it’s a subvariant of omicron. You might have also heard it called “Centaurus”, the [...]
