The study authors point out that their findings support
those of several other studies linking aluminum to Alzheimer's, but add that
"this result needs to be confirmed using a higher number of exposed subjects."
American Journal of Epidemiology
2000;152:59-66.
Alzheimer's treatment targets metals
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By Jane E. Allen
Tribune Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
Published February 8, 2004
Thinking and memory among Alzheimer's patients may decline more slowly if
metals are removed from the toxic plaques that accumulate in their brains.
For years, scientists have experimented with ways to inhibit the production
and accumulation of the protein beta-amyloid in the plaques associated with
Alzheimer's disease. Excessive amounts of copper and zinc have been observed
in the plaques, so researchers from the University of Melbourne in Australia
tried a novel approach called chelation therapy. Unlike chelation therapy
used to draw toxic metals, such as mercury, out of the blood, this type can
penetrate the brain.
In a preliminary experiment, they gave patients the antibiotic clioquinol,
which they hypothesized could remove zinc and copper from the beta-amyloid
and help dissolve the protein. In a 36-week study of 36 patients with
moderate to severe Alzheimer's, half received twice-daily doses of clioquinol
and half received a placebo. All underwent periodic tests of thinking and
memory and blood measurements of beta-amyloid. Beta-amyloid levels dropped
among those who got the drug but increased among placebo recipients. The
treated group scored higher on cognitive tests than the placebo group, but
disease progression was slowed only in the most severely affected Alzheimer's
patients. The study appeared in the Archives of Neurology. In an accompanying
editorial, Dr. Roger N. Rosenberg, the journal editor, said zinc-copper
chelation "offers promise as a new therapeutic strategy" and merits further
study in larger clinical trials.
A U.S. trial is being planned, but researchers must prove they can protect
patients from several nerve-damaging illnesses that led to the withdrawal of
oral clioquinol from the U.S. market in the 1970s, when it was predominantly
used for intestinal infections. It's still used topically.
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
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