Journal
DEMENTIA AND GERIATRIC COGNITIVE DISORDERS
Volume 12, Issue 6, Pages 408-414Publisher
KARGER
DOI: 10.1159/000051288
Keywords
clioquinol; tau protein; growth-associated protein; heavy metal ions
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
As heavy metal ions may be implicated in the formation of senile plaques in Alzheimer-afflicted brains, treatment with clioquinol was tested in 20 patients with Alzheimer's disease. Clioquinol is a chelator that crosses the blood-brain barrier and has greater affinity for zinc and copper ions than for calcium and magnesium ions. Treatment was given for 21 days at doses of 20 mg/day to 10 patients and 80 mg/day to another 10 patients. The study was blind to the dosages but included no controls. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) investigations revealed a significant increase at day 7 and a decrease at day 21 in Tau protein and growth-associated protein (GAP43). These proteins are increased in Alzheimer's disease and considered as rather stable markers. The initial increase may indicate a temporary cytotoxicity to the brain and/or an increased release into the CSF from stores in the tissue, possibly from senile plaques where the proteins are accumulated. The levels of CSF-Tau protein correlated positively and significantly with the serum levels of copper and also with the serum copper/zinc ratio. Clinical ratings showed slight improvement after 3 weeks treatment with clioquinol in this open study. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available