Marco
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Some pioneering work going on at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland has just received Chinese funding for a 'proof of concept' clinical trial :
http://news.ulster.ac.uk/releases/2011/6114.html
Much more detail in the animal model paper :
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/17/6587.full.pdf
Tests by Professor Holscher and his team have revealed that Victoza, a once-daily injected drug developed by Novo Nordisk and used to treat type 2 diabetes, also shows strong potential to help people who have Alzheimers disease, by reducing or slowing down degenerative symptoms.
He said: My group tested Victoza to determine if it had any beneficial effects in cellular models of Alzheimers disease and we found that it does. It is quite potent in protecting neurons.
Under a major agreement signed in the city of Taiyuan by Professor Holscher and academic and government officials, clinical studies on the effectiveness of Victoza will be conducted and funded by the Medical University of Shanxi.
The agreement signals hope by the Medical University and the Chinese government to ease conditions for Chinas increasing number of Alzheimers patients. The country has the worlds largest and fastest ageing population.
http://news.ulster.ac.uk/releases/2011/6114.html
Much more detail in the animal model paper :
The inflammation response as measured by activated microglia numbers was halved in liraglutide treated
APP/PS1 mice. Numbers of young neurons in the dentate gyrus were increased in APP/PS1 mice with treatment.
The GLP-1 receptor agonist crosses the BBB and can prevent the deterioration of learning in object recognition and water maze tasks. The levels of performance in the drug treated group are on the same level as in wild-type controls.
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/17/6587.full.pdf