Alzheimer’s is a fatal disease that gradually destroys brain cells, leading to dementia. Symptoms of Alzheimer’s include difficulty with memory, changes in behaviour, and difficulty performing daily activities. Currently available treatments have only limited success in improving the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, and they do not slow the progression of the disease.
Dr. Serge Rivest at Université Laval announced the results of a 12 week study on mice that had Alzheimer’s. In the study, mice were given weekly injections of MPL. After 12 weeks, the mice in the study had an 80% reduction in the number of senile plaques. Senile plaques are seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. MPL stimulates the brain’s immune system by targeting the senile plaques that are seen in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. The mice treated with MPL also showed an improvement in their cognitive abilities.
MPL is currently used as a vaccine adjuvant (an adjuvant is a substance that is added to enhance the effect of the vaccine) in Cervarix, a vaccine against HPV infections. MPL is used in the vaccine to stimulate the immune system to have a better response to the vaccine.
Previous studies tested another vaccine (EB101) that was effective in reducing the senile plaques in mice. But when the vaccine was tested on humans, they had to stop the study due to serious side effects. MPL has already been approved and found to be safe, so this study holds great promise that an effective vaccine for Alzheimer’s may one day be available.
The vaccine could be used for people with early Alzheimer’s to strengthen the immune system and slow the progression of the disease. The vaccine might also be given to prevent Alzheimer’s in people who have risk factors for Alzheimer’s. While the study at Université Laval only tested mice, it seems to hold a lot of promise for an eventual vaccine for Alzheimer’s.