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Research on Alzheimer’s disease
We have two major research programs on Alzheimer’s
disease. One that Professor
Halliday leads which concentrates on analysing familial
forms of the disease, and the other led by Dr
Shepherd that is developing our work on brain inflammation
in Alzheimer’s disease. This second program is described
here.
A definite diagnosis of Alzheimer’s
disease is made from tissue sections stained with silver to
show the dense plaque aggregates in the brain. These
aggregates are associated with brain inflammation as
demonstrated using specialised stains.
Anti-inflammatory drugs can act at a
number of different sites to alleviate many aspects of
Alzheimer’s disease. Drugs act directly on the endothelial cells
of the blood vessels, on platelets which produce an enormous
amount of the Ab
peptide, and on neurons and microglia (brain inflammatory cells)
producing inflammatory signals.
Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease is always
associated with significant upregulation of inflammatory cells
in the brain, and current experimental trials show that anti-inflammatory
treatments hold considerable therapeutic promise for this
disease. We have already found evidence in support of low
dose anti-inflammatory medications protecting against the
symptoms, but not against the disease process once it starts.
We are therefore progressing research aimed at understanding
the molecules involved and how the inflammatory process changes
with the disease in order to develop better treatments.
How can I help this research? By participating
in our brain donor
program (contact 02 9036 7117).
Key researchers
Claire
Shepherd, Glenda
Halliday and Heather McCann
Collaborators
Caroline Gezcy (University of NSW), Jillian Kril (University
of Sydney, Concord Hospital)
Key publications
Broe GA, Grayson DA, Creasey H, Waite LM, Casey B, Bennett
HP, Brooks WS, Halliday GM (2000). Anti-inflammatory drugs
protect against Alzheimer’s disease at low doses. Archives
of Neurology; 57:1586-91.
Halliday GM, Shepherd C, McCann H, Reid WGJ, Grayson DA,
Broe GA, Kril JJ (2000). Effect of anti-inflammatory medications
on neuropathological findings in Alzheimer disease. Archives
of Neurology; 57:831-836.
Kril JJ, Halliday GM (2001). Alzheimer’s disease: its
diagnosis and pathogenesis. International Review of Neurobiology;
48:167-217.
Halliday GM, Double KL, Macdonald V, Kril JJ (2003). Identifying
severely atrophic cortical subregions in Alzheimer’s
disease. Neurobiology of Aging;24:797-806.
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