Support for Prana Alzheimer's treatment

Prana Biotechnology's theory for treating Alzheimer's disease with zinc-targeted drugs has won support from a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

The paper reported that Korean scientists used drugs that target zinc bound to beta-amyloid in the brain to potentially decelerate or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's diseases.

Prof Colin Masters, chairman of Prana's scientific advisory board, said that the article further confirms Prana's underlying metal theory.

He says the Korean studies support our approach to developing drugs by removing the excess metal binding to the protein, which then decreases the accumulation of the beta-amyloid protein.

In US studies by scientific advisors to Prana, Prof Ashley Bush and Prof Rudolph Tanzi, clioquinol, a metal-binding drug, was given to transgenic mice. The drug reduced the beta-amyloid accumulation in their brains by half, and greatly improved the health and behaviour of the mice.

Bush said the research indicated that the abnormal binding of these metals to beta-amyloid was fundamental to AD.

"This reaction ultimately leads to the corruption of the protein and its ensuing toxicity," he said. "Copper and zinc are normally present at high concentrations in the regions of the brain most affected by AD."

"The therapeutic strategy could be used to slow or prevent a range of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Creutzfeldt-Jakob and motor neuron disease."

Prana recently released promising preliminary results from its Phase II clinical trial of clioquinol in Alzheimer's disease patients. The company said full trial results would be announced soon.