New Gene Therapy for Alzheimer's May Preserve Cognitive Function: Study Shows

A study published in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy by researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine introduces a gene therapy that may offer a powerful new approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease. Unlike current therapies that primarily target protein deposits in the brain, this innovative strategy focuses on altering the behavior of brain cells themselves to prevent damage and preserve cognitive function.

Current treatments for Alzheimer’s manage symptoms but do not stop the underlying disease process. The new gene therapy, developed by UC San Diego researchers, aims to halt or even reverse the progression of the disease by addressing its root causes.

In experiments using mice, the team delivered the gene therapy at the symptomatic stage of Alzheimer’s and found that it preserved hippocampal-dependent memory—a vital aspect of cognition that is typically impaired in patients. Notably, the treated mice exhibited gene expression patterns that closely resembled those of healthy mice, suggesting that the therapy may restore diseased cells to a more normal, functional state.