Review: Trial of Solanezumab in Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease

This article by Sperling et al. looked at a potential treatment, solanezumab, for Alzheimer's disease. Solanezumab, a monoclonal antibody, is designed to target a specific substance called amyloid in the brain, which is believed to be linked to Alzheimer's. Amyloid is an abnormal protein that generates in the brain that integers with memory neuron signalling.

The study involved those aged 65 and 85 who had elevated levels of amyloid in their brains but did not show any signs of memory or cognitive problems at the beginning of the study. The researchers wanted to see if giving solanezumab to these individuals could slow down the onset  of Alzheimer's disease.

Both groups showed increased amyloid levels in their brains, but the increase was slightly smaller in the group that received solanezumab.However, after 4.5 years, the results showed that solanezumab did not make a significant difference in slowing down the decline in memory and cognitive function when compared to a group of people who did not receive the treatment, the placebo group.

The study also faced some challenges, including disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the researchers noted that the unexpected results might be related to an increase in the dose of solanezumab during the study. 

The study suggests that solanezumab did not effectively slow down the progression of Alzheimer's disease in people who did not show symptoms but had signs of the condition in their brains. This adds to the ongoing efforts to find effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease.

Source:

Sperling, R. A., Donohue, M. C., Raman, R., Rafii, M. S., Johnson, K. A., Masters, C. L., Christopher, Takeshi Iwatsubo, Marshall, G. A., R. Yaari, Mancini, M., Holdridge, K. C., Case, M., Sims, J. R., & Aisen, P. S. (2023). Trial of Solanezumab in Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease. The New England Journal of Medicine, 389(12), 1096–1107. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa2305032