Refining an Alzheimer's vaccine to avoid an inflammatory response.

摘要

The utility of vaccine strategies to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease may still hold promise. Phase IIa clinical trials were halted due to a small but significant occurrence of meningoencephalitis. Knowledge gained from studies on amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) immunotherapy will allow optimisation of new-generation vaccines, targeting highly specific epitopes while reducing undesired side effects. In harnessing and steering the immune system, an effective response can be generated against Abeta, one that might have attenuated immune responses with robust disease-altering activity.