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ALBUQUERQUE, MN (KRQE) – The treatment of Alzheimer's disease does not exist to date, but researchers at the University of New Mexico believe they have found a way to prevent it. "I really wanted to take this as a challenge to see if we could develop any treatment," says Kiran Bhaskar.
Kiran Bhaskar is passionate about studying Alzheimer's disease for 10 years. As an associate professor in the Department of Health and Science of the UNM, he states that the search for a cure began with an idea in 2013. "I would say that it was necessary to about five years to arrive at the origin of the idea and get the vaccine that works fully, "he says.
Bhaskar and his team started testing the vaccine on mice. "We used a group of mice with Alzheimer's disease and injected them after a series of injections," says Nicole Maphis.
Nicole Maphis, a PhD student, said the vaccine was created to target a specific protein that is commonly found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. "What we chose to pursue was a specific region of tau protein, as you've seen with the red tau structures, which are common in Alzheimer's disease. We wanted to make a vaccine against that, "says Maphis.
Maphis was pleased to see the results. "These antibodies seem to have eliminated the pathological tau protein. Pathological tau is one of the components of these entanglements found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, "she says.
The mice then went through a series of labyrinth-like tests. Mice that received the vaccine had much better results than those that did not.
Despite this, Maphis and Bhaskar say it's not a complete success yet. Being able to vaccinate people will not only take a few more years, but can cost up to a billion dollars. "We need to make sure we have a clinical version of the vaccine so that we can test people," Bhaskar said.
To test only a small group, the Department of Health Sciences would cost $ 2 million. Currently, Maphis and Bhaskar are looking for partnerships to help them achieve their goal of getting a clinical grade vaccine.
Once they have developed a safe vaccine for humans, they will have to submit it to the FDA for approval. It could take another five years.
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