New Brain Lesion Opens Vistas for Research

Alzheimer's Association
Thursday, 26 June 1997

Researchers have discovered a new lesion in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease that may play a role in the onset or progression of the disease, according to the Alzheimer's Association. "This is quite illuminating and potentially very significant," said Zaven Khachaturian, Ph.D., director of the Alzheimer's Association Ronald & Nancy Reagan Research Institute. "If confirmed, this finding may provide new insights to our understanding of the disease. This discovery may open additional avenues for investigating what causes Alzheimer's, provide fresh targets for therapies and give us a new diagnostic marker for the disease."

According to the Association, additional studies are needed to characterize the lesion, which the researchers call an AMY plaque, and its role in Alzheimer's, and to identify and describe the gene or genes that cause it to form. For years, scientists have studied the two established brain lesions characteristic of Alzheimer's disease — known as amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles — attempting to determine their roles in Alzheimer's disease.

"Monoclonal Antibodies to a 100-kd Protein Reveal Abundant Ab-Negative Plaques throughout Gray Matter of Alzheimer's Disease Brains," by John Q. Trojanowski, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, appears in the July 1997 issue of the American Journal of Pathology. Trojanowski is a member of the Alzheimer's Association's Medical and Scientific Advisory Board.

"Just as exciting as the discovery of the new lesion is that its detection indicates there are still more things going on in the Alzheimer brain that we are not yet aware of," Khachaturian said. "The goal is to shine more light on this dark and devastating disease.

"Dr. Trojanowski and his colleagues created a new analytical technique to examine parts of the Alzheimer brain. This allowed them to see the novel abnormal structures. We need to continue to develop more refined and discriminating detection tools to identify even more subtle lesions, and observe more delicate processes. The more we increase our understanding of Alzheimer's disease, the closer we come to conquering it."

The goal of the Reagan Institute, launched by the Association and the Reagan family in 1995, is to accelerate efforts to delay the onset of, and eventually prevent, Alzheimer's disease. The Alzheimer's Association is the largest national voluntary health organization dedicated to research for the causes, treatments, prevention and cure of Alzheimer's disease and to providing education and support services to the four million Americans with the disease, their families and caregivers. You can reach the Alzheimer's Association at (800) 272-3900.

For more information, or to contact Alzheimer's Association, see their website at: www.alz.org