Sir
One potential route for therapy for Alzheimer's disease involves the immunization of patients against the amyloid-β peptide, the major proteinaceous component that characterizes plaques in the brains of patients with this disease. Resulting from earlier research on mice, published in Nature1,2,3, Elan Pharmaceuticals recently began clinical trials of a vaccine, AN-1792, based on this approach. In January, four patients in this trial developed inflammation of the central nervous system, and Elan suspended the trial pending further investigation4. By March, the number of patients in this trial who had symptoms resembling encephalitis and meningitis was reported to have increased to 15, and Elan has permanently withdrawn the AN-1792 vaccine from human trials5.
It is not clear precisely what caused the inflammation in these patients, as Elan has released few details of their medical condition. Elan is under no obligation to report the results of the AN-1792 trials, and may well not wish to lose its perceived scientific or commercial advantage.
Nonetheless, detailed information of the conditions developed by these patients is of profound interest to the scientific community as well as society at large. We therefore urge Elan to publish details from their study as quickly as possible, so that any foreseeable side-effects can be avoided in future trials.
References
Schenk, D. et al. Nature 400, 173–177 (1999).
Janus, C. et al. Nature 408, 979–982 (2000).
Morgan, D. et al. Nature 408, 982–985 (2000).
Check, E. Nature 415, 462 (2002).
Weiss, R. Washington Post A03 (2 March 2002)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bishop, G., Robinson, S., Smith, M. et al. Call for Elan to publish Alzheimer's trial details. Nature 416, 677 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/416677d
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/416677d
This article is cited by
-
β-sheet breaker peptide prevents Aβ-induced spatial memory impairments with partial reduction of amyloid deposits
Molecular Psychiatry (2004)
-
Neuropathology of human Alzheimer disease after immunization with amyloid-β peptide: a case report
Nature Medicine (2003)
-
Generation of antibodies specific for β-amyloid by vaccination of patients with Alzheimer disease
Nature Medicine (2002)