Rapid cognitive improvement in Alzheimer’s disease following perispinal
etanercept administration.
Tobinick EL, Gross H
J Neuroinflammation 2008 Jan 9 5(1):2 [abstract on PubMed]
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If confirmed by additional cases, this report of almost immediate and
significant cognitive improvement triggered by perispinal
administration of a TNF antagonist in one patient with the clinical signs
of Alzheimer’s disease will be considered a landmark in the treatment
of this increasingly devastating disease. Although a single case study is
reported, it is part of a larger clinical trial underway to treat AD patients by
weekly administration of etanercept, and thus replication of the reported
observation should become available soon. On the basis of extensive work
related to the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF in
neuroinflammation and AD, the authors propose working hypotheses on the
role of TNF in regulation of synaptic transmission to explain their observations.
This should trigger, in the short term, validation studies aimed at testing these
provocative and stimulating hypotheses.