Mucosal immunotherapy in an Alzheimer mouse model by recombinant Sendai virus vector carrying Aβ1-43/IL-10 cDNA

Based on the amyloid cascade hypothesis, many reports have indicated that immunotherapy is beneficial for Alzheimer's disease (AD). We developed a mucosal immunotherapy for AD by nasal administration of recombinant Sendai virus vector carrying A beta 1-43 and mouse IL-10 cDNA. Nasal but not intramuscular administration of the vaccine induced good antibody responses to A beta. When APP transgenic mice (Tg2576) received this vaccine once nasally, the A beta plaque burden was significantly decreased 8 weeks after without inducing inflammation in the brain. The amount of A beta measured by ELISA was also reduced in both soluble and insoluble fractions of the brain homogenates, and notably the A beta oligomer (12-mer) was also apparently decreased. Tg2576 mice showed significant improvement in cognitive functions examined at 3 months after vaccination. Thus, this is an alternative immunotherapy for AD, which has an advantage in non-invasive, safe and relatively long lasting features. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.