The nerve cell growth factor (NGF) discovered by Rita Levi Montalcini, a result awarded with the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1986, could become a drug to protect nerve cells from Alzheimer's.
The experimentation is underway at Ebri (European Brain Research Institute), the international scientific research institute dedicated to the study of neuroscience, to whose creation Rita Levi Montalcini dedicated the last 12 years of her life, presiding over it for 10 years.
“We are working to develop a variant of the Ngf protein that can provide protection to nerve fibers against neurodegeneration linked to Alzheimer's,” the president of Ebri, Antonino Cattaneo, explained to ANSA.
“The goal is to develop, together with the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, a nasal spray that can act on the brain.
We cannot yet talk about drugs - explains Cattaneo - because we are waiting to start clinical trials on humans, which should start within a couple of years ”.
Ngf is already used as a drug, in the form of eye drops registered two years ago, against a form of corneal ulcer, Cattaneo points out. "Now, we are pursuing a new path, to develop a variant of Ngf that can protect cells. nerves, before the degeneration triggered by Alzheimer's becomes irreversible.
One way - concludes the president of Ebri - to continue the commitment of Rita Levi Montalcini, who fought like a lioness in the last twelve years of her life for the birth of an international neuroscience research institute, the Ebri ".