Drug rescues memory lost to Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder named for German physician Alois Alzheimer, who first described it in 1906.

Just like the rest of our bodies, our brains change as we age. Most of us notice some slowed thinking and occasional problems remembering certain things. However, serious memory loss, confusion and other major changes in the way our minds work are not a normal part of aging. They may be a sign that brain cells are failing and this is called Alzheimer's Disease.
UC Irvine scientists have discovered a drug that offers hope that a new treatment may be on the horizon for people in the early stages of Alzheimer's. The drug, called PMX205, prevented inflamed immune cells from gathering in brain regions with Alzheimer's lesions. Cell inflammation in these areas accelerates neuron damage, exacerbating the disease.
Scientists gave treated mice learning and memory tests and then examined their brains for evidence of the disease. Alzheimer's mice that were not given the drug performed significantly worse on the test than normal mice. But - in all but one case - the treated Alzheimer's mice performed almost as well as the normal mice. Those with the rescued cognitive ability had more than 50 percent fewer Alzheimer's lesions and inflammatory immune cells than the untreated diseased mice.