The launch of the first human trial to evaluate a gene therapy for Alzheimer's patients

Washington-SANA

US researchers launched the first clinical trial in humans to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of gene therapy for Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.

According to the scientific journal "NiroSense", researchers at the University of California School of Medicine have launched the first clinical trial in humans to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of gene therapy to deliver a key protein to the brains of people with AD or mild cognitive impairment, "MCI", a condition that precedes Often complete dementia.

The three-year trial will recruit 12 participants with either Alzheimer's disease or cognitive impairment with 12 other people serving as comparative controls during that period. The researchers will use a gene therapy in which a harmless virus is modified to transmit a gene for a protein called a brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF is injected directly into the target areas of the brain and stimulates its production in neighboring cells.

The researchers explained that the "PDNF" protein is part of a family of growth factors found in the brain and central nervous system that support the survival of existing neurons and enhance the growth and differentiation of neurons is especially important in areas of the brain prone to Alzheimer's disease, noting that people with the disease have Decreasing levels of this protein.