SHANGHAI, July 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Alzheimer's disease has been an unsolved puzzle for scientists since the first patient was found over 100 years ago. Different theories like cholinergic hypothesis, amyloid cascade hypothesis, and tau protein hypothesis have made progress in research but failed to bring new therapies to patients. In recent years scientists started to focus on the brain-gut axis, with its breakthrough in the fields of Parkinson's disease, depression and autism. Data linking the microbiome to Alzheimer's disease and GV-971 targeting the brain-gut axis launched by Shanghai Green Valley Pharmaceuticals were presented at the 34th Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC).
AAIC, the largest and most influential international conference on dementia science, is hosting a five-day event of basic science and pathogenesis and other development on Alzheimer's disease. On July 27, AAIC opened with a featured session on "Microbiome in Alzheimer's Disease: Pathogenesis and Treatment Implications" that focused on the impact of gut microbiota on Alzheimer's disease.
"New research demonstrates that an abnormal microbiome stimulates release of inflammatory cells in the periphery that enter the brain and stimulate neuroinflammation," said Jeffrey Cummings, MD, Vice Chair for Research and Research Professor of UNLV Department of Brain Health and Professor and director of Center for Neurodegeneration and Translational Neuroscience, Cleveland Clinic, Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
Michael Heneka, MD, Professor of German Center for Neurodegenerative Disease and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease and Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Bonn, pointed out the impact of microbiome on immune system activated microglia that interacted with astroglia and other nerve cells and stimulated neuroinflammation.
Research conducted by Sangram Sisodia, professor of Neuroscience, University of Chicago, on mice with high dose antibiotics proved the modulation of gut microbiota on amyloid protein deposition and neuroinflammation. He concluded, "The alterations of microbiome might have significant effect on behavioral manifestations and some of the neuropathology of Alzheimer's."
These research findings show that scientists' research focus on central nervous system diseases has been gradually shifted to include the correlation between gut microbiota and central nervous system disorders.
For instance, a study published in the Journal of Physiology on July 2 showed that misfolded protein build-up in the gut could contribute to the development of Alzheimer's-like symptoms in mice.
On August 2019, Professor Shengdi Chen of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine showed clinical evidence of the correlation between intestinal flora and Alzheimer's disease.
On July 27 of AAIC featured session, Professor Meiyu Geng at Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica gave a speech on Causal Communication Between Gut Microbiota Dysbiosis and Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's Disease and Therapeutic Intervention by Oligomannate, which explained the novel mechanism of GV-971 targeting the brain-gut axis as revealed by her research team and showing that GV-971 reconditioned dysbiosis of gut microbiota, inhibited the abnormal increase of intestinal flora metabolites, modulated peripheral and central inflammation, reduced amyloid protein deposition, and improved cognitive function.
GV-971, the first novel drug targeting brain-gut axis for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, was approved by NMPA on November 2019, and received approval by FDA on the Investigational New Drug application for a global multi-center Phase III clinical study which is expected to be completed in 2025.
According to the data from World Health Organization, there are about 50 million people in the world with dementia and 60% to 70% of them have Alzheimer's disease. There is still a long way to go before fully conquering the untreatable disease, but fortunately human being's research, discovery and treatment on Alzheimer's disease have been making progress steadily.
