Trials among Alzheimer's disease patients of a
drug more commonly used to fight Aids and
leprosy are expected to start this year.
The drug dapsone - which is more than 40
years old - is used to control some of the
inflammation associated with the crippling
disease.
Doctors working in leper colonies in Japan
noticed that their patients on dapsone
appeared far less likely to develop Alzheimer's
disease, the incurable and progressive
degenerative brain disease.
Their work among 3,700 leprosy patients given
the drug has excited Alzheimer's experts.
Canadian biotech company Immune Network
Research said on Tuesday that it expected to
begin trials of the drug as a treatment for
Alzheimer's in South Africa later this year.
It is also trying to launch similar trials in
Poland, Brazil and Israel.
The company is trying to reformulate the drug
to enhance its potential Alzheimer-fighting
properties.
Reducing inflammation
Immune Network President Allen Bain told
Reuters news agency that the drug might help
reduce the inflammation associated with
Alzheimer's.
He said: "There's a huge increase in Alzheimer's
and this is the only drug that has some
evidence that it slows the progression of
Alzheimer's and actually decreases the number
of people who will be suffering."
There is more than one anti-Alzheimer's drug
currently available in the UK, with evidence
that that they may delay the progression of
Alzheimer's symptoms in some patients.
Mr Bain added that the side-effects of
dapsone were so well-documented and
managed that human efficacy trials could
proceed straight away.
In the UK, as many as one in 12 people will
develop Alzheimer's disease. Its cause is
unknown.
Approximately 300 patients in each of the four
countries would hopefully be recruited for the
clinical trials, Mr Bain said.
--
Cheers,
Joao Paulo - Salvador,BA,Brazil
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