Researchers at New York University conducted a study on elderly monkeys and found that a newly developed treatment may halt the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Known as CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODN), when administered to elderly monkeys, it reduced amyloid-beta plaque deposits in the brain by nearly 60 percent.
The results had been published in the peer-reviewed journal Brain.
The monkeys were between 17 and 19 years old, at the time of the study. Each participant was given a single dose of CpG ODN once per month, for a span of two years. Brain tissue, blood samples for plaque deposits, tau protein levels, inflammation, and behavioral changes were all assessed.
“Our findings illustrate that this therapy is an effective way of manipulating the immune system to slow neurodegeneration,” said one NYU research of the study in a press release.
“Our new treatment avoids the pitfalls of earlier attempts because it is delivered in cycles, giving the immune system a chance to rest between doses,” said another NYU researcher.
“The similarities in aging between the animals studied and our own species give us hope that this therapy will work in human patients as well.”
