Potent effects for BDNF in Alzheimer’s models

Treatment with brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has significant neuroprotective effects in a range of animal models of Alzheimer’s disease, US researchers have reported.

In a study published today in Nature Medicine, researchers from the University of California, San Diego, reported that administration of the protein ameliorated some symptoms and reversed others in several rat and primate models, independent of the build-up of amyloid plaques.

The researchers concentrated on the entorhinal cortex, a memory centre in the brain and one that is affected early in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

In amyloid-transgenic mice – used to study Alzheimer’s disease pathology in humans – lentiviral vectors were used to deliver the BDNF gene to the entorhinal cortex. The results showed a reversal of loss of synapses and a restoration of learning and memory.

They also found significant levels of BDNF in the hippocampus and dentate gyrus.

Other models included aged rats, aged rhesus monkeys, and rats and monkeys with damage to the entorhinal cortex.

In all models, improvement or reversal of cognitive decline were observed. In the models of ageing, BDNF prevented the death of entorhinal neurons.

The researchers said the potency of BDNF in the models meant further clinical exploration as a potential therapy was merited.