New dementia jab could offer hope for millions

30 July 2023 , 17:00

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The jab has been developed by Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A third promising new jab could help tackle the devastating impact of Alzheimer’s disease, researchers claim. Trials have shown the new SAGP injection targets a protein involved in the most common cause of dementia to help eliminate toxic cells in mice with the condition.

Scientists said the mice also showed improvement in behaviour and awareness after the SAGP jab. They also had fewer abnormal proteins which cause the disease, known as amyloid plaques, and less inflammation in their brain tissue.

The vaccine is yet to be tested on humans but it comes after two other jabs, already being successfully trialled, were shown to help reverse mental decline in patients. Earlier this month the Mirror revealed that Donanemab was proven to rid the brain of 84% of amyloid plaque proteins and slow mental decline by 36%.

It could take as little as 12 to 18 months for UK regulators to potentially licence donanemab as safe. Donanemab is the second drug proven to reverse the process in what has been hailed as the “beginning of the end for Alzheimer’s disease”. Last year, lecanemab was shown to slow decline by 27%. The new SAGP jab has been developed by researchers at Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan.

Study lead author Dr Chieh-LunHsiao said: “Our study’s novel vaccine test in mice points to a potential way to prevent or modify the disease. The future challenge will be to achieve similar results in humans. If the vaccine could prove to be successful in humans, it would be a big step forward towards delaying disease progression or even prevention of this disease.” Dr Hsiao said the mice who received the vaccine had anxiety and were more aware of their surroundings.

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