ATRI's Dr. Aisen and Dr. Rafii recently published a paper titled "Detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in its preclinical stage" in the prestigious journal, Nature Aging.
"In this paper, we review how the field of Alzheimer’s disease therapeutics is learning from the A4, LEARN, and AHEAD trials in order to move closer to primary prevention trials of AD." - Dr. Rafii.
Studies have shown that Alzheimer's disease (AD) has an early phase called preclinical AD, which occurs long before symptoms appear. This phase provides a crucial opportunity for treatment to slow down the progression of the disease. However, conducting trials in this population is challenging. This new paper by Dr. Aisen and Dr. Rafii discusses the latest advancements in measuring substances in the blood, new methods for recruiting participants, improved cognitive tests, and self-reported outcomes that have enabled the successful launch of several phase 3 trials for preclinical AD.
The promising results of treatments targeting amyloid proteins in symptomatic AD have sparked interest in testing these therapies during the earliest stages of the disease. The paper also offers insights into the future potential of screening for amyloid accumulation in cognitively normal individuals during the preclinical stage, which would allow for the initiation of effective therapies to delay or prevent cognitive decline.
View the publication on Nature Aging.
