New vaccine hope for Down’s syndrome people at risk of Alzheimer’s
Scientists are testing a vaccine designed to protect people with Down syndrome from developing Alzheimer’s disease
- Two-thirds of people with Down syndrome go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease
- Down syndrome occurs in people who are born with an extra chromosome
Scientists are developing a vaccine to prevent people with Down syndrome from getting Alzheimer’s.
According to studies, two-thirds of people with the genetic disorder develop Alzheimer’s disease – the most common cause of dementia – before the age of 60.
Down syndrome occurs in people who are born with an extra chromosome, which usually leads to learning disabilities and physical abnormalities.
Experts believe they are more vulnerable to the condition because of a DNA error that limits the body’s ability to clear a toxic protein from the brain called amyloid plaque, long thought to be a cause of Alzheimer’s disease. is.
Last month, Swiss pharmaceutical company AC Immune announced that it had administered the first dose of its anti-amyloid vaccine to a patient with Down syndrome. It has now received approval to expand the trial to the US to offer the vaccine to more people with the condition.
Swiss scientists are testing a vaccine that could protect people with Down syndrome from developing Alzheimer’s later in life
According to research, two-thirds of people with Down syndrome go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease
If successful, further tests of the vaccine, currently called ACI-24060, will be conducted to see if it can prevent Alzheimer’s disease in elderly people who do not have Down syndrome.
The news follows the US approval last week of an Alzheimer’s drug that works by clearing amyloid plaque from the brain.
However, the drug, called lecanemab, has been plagued by controversy due to reports that it causes serious side effects, including brain hemorrhages.
Researchers believe the new vaccine may be a safer and more effective alternative to treatments such as lecanemab.
“ACI-24060 shows promise as a new therapy that can reduce amyloid plaques to delay or perhaps even prevent the onset of clinical dementia symptoms,” said Professor Michael Rafii, a neurologist at the Keck School of Medicine and principal investigator of the trial. He added: ‘I believe that a vaccine has potential safety, efficacy and logistical benefits [over lecanemab].’
Lecanemab is the first drug proven to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, which affects nearly a million people in the UK.
Given by intravenous drip every few weeks, studies show it can slow degenerative brain disease by 27 percent. However, three patients died during a trial after experiencing serious side effects believed to be related to the medication.