Therapeutic System

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Summary: UCLA researchers in the Department of Neurology have developed a novel therapeutic program for Alzheimer’s disease, based on the combination of existing AD drugs and a program to enhance metabolic activity. Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that presents with short-term memory loss in the early stages and advances to progressive loss of cognitive function. The exact cause has not been fully determined, and currently no drugs can stop or reverse progression. However several drugs that lessen symptoms have been approved by the FDA. With these therapies, patients typically see a short-term improvement, which loses efficacy over time until memory decline reaches the pre-treatment rate. A personalized therapeutic protocol called Metabolic Enhancement for Neurodegeneration (MEND) has been developed by UCLA researchers to modulate metabolic processes that facilitate cognitive decline. MEND focuses on three components: nutritional modulation, vitamin supplementation, and lifestyle/sleep modification. The program is personalized and stringent, but each area is intended to support memory enhancement and neural plasticity.   Innovation: UCLA researchers have previously developed the MEND program to boost metabolic activity in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In patients with early AD that undertook the MEND protocol, memory loss was reversed and sustained improvement was seen in cognitive function. The MEND program was designed to target causal imbalances in the neural plasticity network, so it is expected to complement drug therapy when used in combination, particularly because current AD drugs are administered as monotherapeutics.   Applications: MEND protocol can be combined with multiple categories of Alzheimer’s drugs   Approved: Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, NMDA receptor antagonistsIn development: BACE inhibitor, γ-secretase inhibitor, Tau aggregation inhibitor, p-Tau inhibitor, sAPPα enhancer, Sirt1 enhancer, anti-β-amyloid vaccine or antibody   Advantages: Current drug treatment results Patients with Alzheimer’s disease may see a short term improvement from a drug Efficacy is lost over a period of months Memory then continues to decline at the pre-treatment rate Combination of MEND (Metabolic Enhancement for Neurodegeneration) and Alzheimer’s drugs Extends drug efficacy Delays disease progression   State Of Development: MEND protocol alone validated with 10 patientsPhase II clinical trial ongoing at the Easton Center, UCLA.