Queensland scientists in Alzheimer’s treatment breakthrough
The Australian
March 13, 2015 8:57AM
Michael McKenna
Reporter
Brisbane
Professor Jurgen Gotz. Source: News Limited
AUSTRALIAN scientists have made a breakthrough in the treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with a non-invasive ultrasound technology that can restore memory loss.
Researchers at the University of Queensland’s Brain Institute hope to trial a planned “cheap, mobile’’ ultrasound device for humans in two years after the technique was found to work on mice.
The drug-free treatment uses ultrasound waves to break apart the neurotoxic amyloid plaques that cause memory loss and cognitive decline.
It is hoped the breakthrough will help in the treatment of sufferers — particularly those diagonised early in the progress of the disease — and open up new avenues in research in both Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Research director Professor Jürgen Götz said the new method could revolutionise Alzheimer’s treatment by restoring memory.
“We’re extremely excited by this innovation of treating Alzheimer’s without using drug therapeutics,” Professor Götz said.
“The ultrasound waves oscillate tremendously quickly, activating microglial cells that digest and remove the amyloid plaques that destroy brain synapses.
The approach is able to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier, activating mechanisms that clear toxic protein clumps and restoring memory functions.
“With our approach the blood-brain barrier’s opening is only temporary for a few hours, so it quickly restores its protective role,” Professor Götz said.
“The word ‘breakthrough’ is often misused, but in this case I think this really does fundamentally change our understanding of how to treat this disease, and I foresee a great future for this approach.”
Alzheimer’s affects more than two-thirds of dementia patients, and approximately a quarter of a million Australians.
The total number of dementia cases in Australia is expected to rise to 900,000 by 2050.
Professor Gotz said a mobile device could be taken home by patients and used several times a year.
He said one of the benefits will be the expected cheaper costs of the treatment, with current drug therapies costing $250,000.
“With an ageing population placing an increasing burden on the health system, an important factor is cost, and other potential drug treatments using antibodies will be expensive,” he said.
“In contrast, this method uses relatively inexpensive ultrasound and microbubble technology which is non-invasive and appears highly effective.”
Research has been conducted using mice with an Alzheimer’s model, with trials on sheep being planned for later this year.
The mice were tested in identifying objects and finding their way around mazes.
“This treatment restored memory function to the same level of normal healthy mice,” Professor Götz said.
“We’re also working on seeing whether this method clears toxic protein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases other than Alzheimer’s and whether this also restores executive functions, including decision-making and motor control.”
Findings of the research, “Scanning ultrasound efficiently removes amyloid-β and restores memory in an Alzheimer’s model”, are published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The Australian
March 13, 2015 8:57AM
Michael McKenna
Reporter
Brisbane
Professor Jurgen Gotz. Source: News Limited
AUSTRALIAN scientists have made a breakthrough in the treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia with a non-invasive ultrasound technology that can restore memory loss.
Researchers at the University of Queensland’s Brain Institute hope to trial a planned “cheap, mobile’’ ultrasound device for humans in two years after the technique was found to work on mice.
The drug-free treatment uses ultrasound waves to break apart the neurotoxic amyloid plaques that cause memory loss and cognitive decline.
It is hoped the breakthrough will help in the treatment of sufferers — particularly those diagonised early in the progress of the disease — and open up new avenues in research in both Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Research director Professor Jürgen Götz said the new method could revolutionise Alzheimer’s treatment by restoring memory.
“We’re extremely excited by this innovation of treating Alzheimer’s without using drug therapeutics,” Professor Götz said.
“The ultrasound waves oscillate tremendously quickly, activating microglial cells that digest and remove the amyloid plaques that destroy brain synapses.
The approach is able to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier, activating mechanisms that clear toxic protein clumps and restoring memory functions.
“With our approach the blood-brain barrier’s opening is only temporary for a few hours, so it quickly restores its protective role,” Professor Götz said.
“The word ‘breakthrough’ is often misused, but in this case I think this really does fundamentally change our understanding of how to treat this disease, and I foresee a great future for this approach.”
Alzheimer’s affects more than two-thirds of dementia patients, and approximately a quarter of a million Australians.
The total number of dementia cases in Australia is expected to rise to 900,000 by 2050.
Professor Gotz said a mobile device could be taken home by patients and used several times a year.
He said one of the benefits will be the expected cheaper costs of the treatment, with current drug therapies costing $250,000.
“With an ageing population placing an increasing burden on the health system, an important factor is cost, and other potential drug treatments using antibodies will be expensive,” he said.
“In contrast, this method uses relatively inexpensive ultrasound and microbubble technology which is non-invasive and appears highly effective.”
Research has been conducted using mice with an Alzheimer’s model, with trials on sheep being planned for later this year.
The mice were tested in identifying objects and finding their way around mazes.
“This treatment restored memory function to the same level of normal healthy mice,” Professor Götz said.
“We’re also working on seeing whether this method clears toxic protein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases other than Alzheimer’s and whether this also restores executive functions, including decision-making and motor control.”
Findings of the research, “Scanning ultrasound efficiently removes amyloid-β and restores memory in an Alzheimer’s model”, are published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.