Impaired insulin function may be behind some of the abnormalities found in Alzheimer's disease

Mar 7 2005

A research team led by Dr Suzanne de la Monte and Dr. Jack Wands of the Brown University Medical School has found that impaired insulin function may be behind some of the abnormalities found in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Another article reviewing the links between insulin and AD, has also found that abnormalities in genes result in impaired insulin function in the brain, including those reported in connection with neural thread protein (NTP), and may be important in starting the degeneration found in AD. The Brown research team has already linked NTP, the brain protein measured, to impaired insulin functioning and accelerated death in brain cells.

Nymox Pharmaceutical Corporation is developing new drugs that target NTP and the harmful role it plays in the AD process. Studies over a decade have found that NTP is elevated in the brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid and urine of AD patients and that increased NTP production is associated with many of the characteristic signs of cell death and changes found in AD.

The Company produces AlzheimAlert(TM), a non-invasive urine test which measures the level of NTP in patients suspected of having Alzheimer's disease. The test provides a valuable tool for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease.

It has also developed a kit version of this technology which has a CE Mark certification, making it eligible for sale in the European Union. The Company has signed an agreement with Alifax s.P.a. to distribute the kit to laboratories and hospitals in Italy.

There are 4.5 million people with AD in the United States alone; by 2050 this number is predicted to rise to13.2 million. Worldwide estimates of the current number of people with AD range from 15 to 20 million. The direct and indirect costs of caring for Alzheimer patients in the U.S. alone is estimated at $100 billion. The human toll on patients, families and caregivers is incalculable.