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CONTACT: 847/378-0517Heather Monroe ([email protected])
Neurosurgeons Test Stereotactic Intracranial Procedures for Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease
CHICAGO (April 8, 2002) -According to the Alzheimer's Association, approximately 4 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease occurs when a person's brain cells lose their ability to function normally and undergo a slow process of degeneration. Neurosurgeons have recently tested stereotactic intracranial methods to combat progression of Alzheimer's disease. The study, "Prevention of Alzheimer Plaque Formation in a Transgenic Mouse Model," will be presented by Terry Lichtor, MD, PhD on Tuesday, April 9, from 3:45 to 5:30 p.m., during the 70th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS). The other participants of this study include neuroscientist Neelima Chauhan, PhD, and neurologist George Siegel, MD.
"Alzheimer's disease alters an area of the brain called the amygdala that controls a person's memory, learning, knowledge of words, language, information about the world, recognition of familiar places and people and skilled motor behaviors," said Terry Lichtor, MD, PhD author of the study and member of the AANS.
The disease ultimately changes the performance of all activities of daily life including eating, getting dressed, bathing or showering, and maintaining bowel and bladder continence. As brain cells deteriorate, their function is gradually lost, turning a person with the disease to an infantile-state of complete dependency. This deterioration process, called dementia, may take 10 to 15 years when caused by Alzheimer's disease.
The actual cause of Alzheimer's disease is not completely understood, but one of the critical substances that causes many of its symptoms is a substance comprising 40 or 42 amino acid residues called amyloid beta peptide (Abeta). Abeta is produced on a regular basis in the human brain. However, under certain conditions, the Abeta peptide either accumulates excessively in the wrong place in the cells or undergoes change that makes it uniquely harmful. The unfortunate result is that cells then undergo the slow process of degeneration.
The objective of the recent study is to attempt to prevent the harmful effects of Abeta accumulation. This is accomplished by injecting into the brain an antibody that attaches to Abeta, stopping its harmful effects by fostering its removal from the brain. The study tested this theory using a mouse with a familial Alzheimer's disease mutation. An antibody against Abeta was injected into the mouse brain in the experimental group. Control animals received either a single injection of saline into the brain or no injection.
Initial studies documented antibody distribution throughout the brain within a 24-hour time period. "The important result of this study is that injection into the brain of antibody against Abeta prevented the formation of plaques that are the common pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Lichtor. "Stereotactic intracranial procedures may offer new treatments for this disease in the near future."
Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is a scientific and educational association with nearly 5,500 members worldwide. The AANS is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery in order to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to the public. All active members of the AANS are certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. Neurological surgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders that affect the entire nervous system including the spinal column, spinal cord, brain and peripheral nerves.
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Media Representatives: If you would like to cover the meeting or interview a neurosurgeon - either on-site or via telephone - please contact the AANS Communications Department at (847) 378-0517 or call the Annual Meeting Press Room beginning Monday, April 8 at (312) 949-3201 (3202).
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