{"id":212314,"date":"2018-02-14T18:40:40","date_gmt":"2018-02-14T18:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/scientists-reverse-alzheimers-in-middle-aged-mice\/"},"modified":"2018-02-14T18:40:40","modified_gmt":"2018-02-14T18:40:40","slug":"scientists-reverse-alzheimers-in-middle-aged-mice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/scientists-reverse-alzheimers-in-middle-aged-mice\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists reverse Alzheimer&#8217;s in middle-aged mice"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"mol-bullets-with-font\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong>The Cleveland Clinic team admit they were &#8216;shocked&#8217; by the clear-cut result\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"\"><strong>They were using the same drug as Merck&#8217;s phase 3 clinical trial in humans which was called off yesterday due to safety fears<\/strong><\/li>\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Lead author Riqiang Yan claims he believes it can be safe and it is the answer to treating or preventing Alzheimer&#8217;s\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By<\/p>\n<p>Mia De Graaf Health Editor For Dailymail.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"><span class=\"article-timestamp article-timestamp-published\"><br \/>\n  <span class=\"article-timestamp-label\">Published:<\/span><br \/>\n  09:13 EST, 14 February 2018<br \/>\n<\/span><br \/>\n | <span class=\"article-timestamp article-timestamp-updated\"><br \/>\n  <span class=\"article-timestamp-label\">Updated:<\/span><br \/>\n  12:24 EST, 14 February 2018<br \/>\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"share-facebook\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"share-twitter\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"share-pinterest\"><\/li>\n<li class=\"share-gplus\">\n      <span class=\"g-interactivepost\"><br \/>\n        <a><\/a><br \/>\n      <\/span>\n        <\/li>\n<li class=\"share-email\">\n<p>                <span class=\"wai\">e-mail<\/span><br \/>\n            <\/a>\n        <\/li>\n<li class=\"share-icons\" id=\"shareLinkTop\">\n            <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>     <span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"count-number\">         138<\/p>\n<p class=\"count-text\">View <br \/> comments<\/p>\n<p>    <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Scientists have successfully reversed Alzheimer&#8217;s in a middle-aged lab mouse &#8211; using the same method as a major clinical trial in humans which was called off yesterday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The team at Cleveland Clinic admitted they were &#8216;shocked&#8217; when their attempts to reduce amyloid plaque in mice completely eradicated the dangerous build-ups that slowly cripple the brain.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">They claim their tests on a 20-month-old mouse &#8211; equivalent to a 50-year-old human &#8211; show it could be possible to halt the disease if it is caught decades earlier than usual.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Lead author Riqiang Yan envisions a future when these enzymes, known as BACE1 inhibitors, could be available as a vitamin that all humans take preventatively to stave off neurodegenerative disease.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">However, just hours before Yan&#8217;s paper was published today, Merck announced it had pulled the plug on its phase 3 clinical trial in early- and mid-stage Alzheimer&#8217;s patients using this same inhibitor after an interim review found more risks than benefits.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Already aware of the Merck failure, Yan told Daily Mail Online last night that he still believes BACE1 is the answer to preventing and treating Alzheimer&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-f2af99438df0a6cf\" src=\"image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" height=\"522\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The Cleveland Clinic team admit they were 'shocked' by the clear-cut result using the same drug as Merck's phase 3 clinical trial in humans which was called off yesterday\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" \/><\/p>\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-f2af99438df0a6cf\" src=\"http:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2018\/02\/14\/14\/4915DAD800000578-5391081-image-a-1_1518617454386.jpg\" height=\"522\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The Cleveland Clinic team admit they were 'shocked' by the clear-cut result using the same drug as Merck's phase 3 clinical trial in humans which was called off yesterday\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The Cleveland Clinic team admit they were &#8216;shocked&#8217; by the clear-cut result using the same drug as Merck&#8217;s phase 3 clinical trial in humans which was called off yesterday<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;We were surprised it worked so well, we saw complete reversal,&#8217; Yan, who will start as chair of the department of neuroscience at the University of Connecticut this spring, said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;To our knowledge, this is the first observation of such a dramatic reversal of amyloid deposition in any study of Alzheimer&#8217;s disease mouse models.&#8217;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">BACE1 helps produce beta-amyloid peptide by cleaving amyloid precursor protein.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Drugs that inhibit BACE1 are therefore being developed as potential Alzheimer&#8217;s disease treatments.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"rotator-panels link-bogr1 linkro-ccox\">\n<li>\n<p>  <span>&#8216;Dramatic&#8217; rise in babies dying in their sleep: Harvard&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>  <span>Could gene editing fight the AIDS crisis? Scientists poised&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"mol-factbox-title\">MERCK PULLS TRIAL INTO THE SAME ALZHEIMER&#8217;S DRUG<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Merck  Co Inc was widely tipped to be a frontrunner in the global race to find a treatment for the incurable neurodegenerative disease &#8211; and in doing so, earn billions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But the once-exciting trial has slowly spluttered to a halt: the firm shelved a similar trial of the same drug Verubecestat in late-stage patients last year, but had hoped it could work in early or mid-stage sufferers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">On Tuesday, executives were forced to admit defeat, dealing an ominous forewarning to the four other major pharmaceutical companies which have bet big on this inhibitor, BACE1, to treat the disease.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Verubecestat belongs to a class of experimental Alzheimer&#8217;s drugs called BACE1 inhibitors that target an enzyme involved in the formation of the toxic amyloid protein that turns into plaques in the brains of Alzheimer&#8217;s patients.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In Merck&#8217;s trial,\u00a0patients were given either a placebo, or 12mg or 40mg of verubecestat, once a day.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">However, because BACE1 controls many important processes by cleaving proteins other than APP, these drugs could have serious side effects. In many trials, mice completely lacking BACE1 suffer severe neurodevelopmental defects.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">To investigate whether inhibiting BACE1 in adults might be less harmful, Yan and colleagues generated mice that gradually lose this enzyme as they grow older. To their surprise, the mice developed normally and appeared to remain perfectly healthy over time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;If we can show the compound is safe, it would be available for preventative measures.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;BACE inhibitors can function like a vitamin, you could give it out to people early on and people could take it comfortably for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Our tests on a 20-month-old mouse found no side effects, now we have to look at a much older mouse to see if this can work in later stages of disease.&#8217;\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The findings could be a game changer for the pharmaceutical industry, which has had a rough ride with BACE1 inhibitors &#8211; although some analysts claim Merck&#8217;s failure suggests we are barking up the wrong tree.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">On Tuesday, Merck announced in a statement that it has pulled the plug on a trial with patients given either a placebo, or 12mg or 40mg of verubecestat, once a day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Roche did away with BACE1 inhibitors in 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Eli Lilly also dropped the method in 2013, but a year later joined forces with AstraZeneca to try another version in early-stage patients, a similar age to the mice tested in Yan&#8217;s new study. That is now in phase 3 clinical trials.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Biogen and Eisai are also in advanced clinical trials testing a similar but subtly different BACE inhibitor &#8211; E2609 &#8211; in early-stage patients.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Meanwhile,\u00a0Amgen and Novartis are testing a BACE inhibitor known as\u00a0CNP520, which they are testing on people at-risk of Alzheimer&#8217;s, to see if it could work preventatively.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The race has been high-powered and fast-paced for years, but with so many trials in late stages &#8211; and Merck&#8217;s most promising trial now out of the question &#8211; there is palpable excitement at who will be the next front-runner to score the jackpot and make a fortune.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>            <!-- ad: http:\/\/mads.dailymail.co.uk\/v3\/us\/health\/none\/article\/other\/inread_player.html --><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"social-links-title\">Share or comment on this article<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"bigLinks sc-icns cleared\">\n<li class=\"share-facebook\">\n<p>                                    <span class=\"wai\">e-mail<\/span><br \/>\n                                <\/a>\n                            <\/li>\n<li class=\"share-icons\" id=\"shareLinkBottom\">\n<p>                                <\/a>\n                            <\/li>\n<li class=\"social-stats social-stats-pipe\" id=\"shareCountBottom\">\n<\/li>\n<li id=\"addCommentButton\" class=\"add-comment\">\n<p>                                <\/a>\n                            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul class=\"rotator-panels\">\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> &#8216;You do not sound American&#8217;: TV hosts spark controversy&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> &#8216;I&#8217;m super-duper sorry&#8230; but I hope I get to wear that&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> LAPD issues warrant for Atomic Blonde producer David&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Missing New York skier, who turned up six days later&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Donald Trump Jr slams gay skating Olympian Adam Rippon&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Woman demanding to stay anonymous after winning the&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Veteran off-duty Chicago police commander, 53, is fatally&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Who&#8217;s the dirty dog? Owner rules out two suspects as she&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Black tennis player Donald Young accuses his white&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Fifty Shades Freed star Arielle Kebbel&#8217;s sister Julia and&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Horror on Mount Hood: Climber dies after falling 1,000&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Trump&#8217;s longtime lawyer now ADMITS to paying $130,000&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Gold medal snowboarder Shaun White apologizes after&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Indiana mother tries to cure her child&#8217;s autism by giving&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> Parents of conservative, Republican senate hopeful give&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> What marriage trouble? President Trump and Melania beam&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> EXCLUSIVE &#8211; Good Mourning: Hope Hicks heads out in&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<li class=\"new shallow-ac mini link-bogr6 linkro-wocc\">  <span class=\"wocc bdrcc\"> At least one person is shot outside National Security&#8230; <\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>        <\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Comments <span class=\"readerCommentsCount\">138<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>\n\t    Share what you think\n          <\/p>\n<ul id=\"rc-tabs\" class=\"js-links dm-tabs cnr5 cleared\">\n<li class=\"dm-tab dm-tab-on bdrgr5 cnr-bdr wogr5 link-wox js-active\">\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tl\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tr\"><\/span><br \/>\n        Newest<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<li class=\"dm-tab bdrgr5 ow-igr2-bx cnr-bdr xogr2 link-gr5ox\">\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tl\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tr\"><\/span><br \/>\n        Oldest<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<li class=\"dm-tab bdrgr5 ow-igr2-bx cnr-bdr xogr2 link-gr5ox\">\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tl\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tr\"><\/span><br \/>\n        Best rated<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<li class=\"dm-tab bdrgr5 ow-igr2-bx cnr-bdr xogr2 link-gr5ox last\">\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tl\"><\/span><br \/>\n        <span class=\"xogr5 tr\"><\/span><br \/>\n        Worst rated<\/a>\n      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The comments below have not been moderated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bold pad5 wogr5 rc-info\">\n      The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.\n    <\/p>\n<p>  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>      <a id=\"newcomment\" name=\"newcomment\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>              <span>Close<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"modal-title\">Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?<\/p>\n<p class=\"modal-subtitle\">Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>            <span>Close<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"modal-title\">Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?<\/p>\n<p class=\"modal-subtitle\">Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual<\/p>\n<p>  We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We\u2019ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook.<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Cleveland Clinic team admit they were &#8216;shocked&#8217; by the clear-cut result\u00a0 They were using the same drug as Merck&#8217;s phase 3 clinical trial in humans which was called off yesterday due to safety fears Lead author Riqiang Yan claims he believes it can be safe and it is the answer to treating or preventing <a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/scientists-reverse-alzheimers-in-middle-aged-mice\/\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212314\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}