The new study documents what happens within minutes when Alzheimer patients are given an injection of etanercept in their spine. The etanercept binds and makes inactive excess TNF. TNF is tumor necrosis factor-alpha, which is one of the soluble proteins. TNF is a critical component of the brain's immune system. Under normal circumstances, TNF regulates the transmission of neural impulses (signals) in the brain.
The study authors think that elevated levels of TNF in Alzheimer's disease interfere with how the transmission of signals in the brain. They thought so because excess TNF-alpha has been found in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's.
The FDA approved the use of etanercept, trade name Enbrel, to treat some immune-mediated disorders, so this use on Alzheimer's patients in human trials was an off label study.
Edward Tobinick M.D. was the lead author on the study and Hyman Gross, M.D was the co-author. Tobinick is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also the director of the Institute for Neurological Research, a private medical group in Los Angeles. Gross is a clinical professor of neurology at the University of Southern California.
The result of the study has just been published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation.
