β-Peptide Immunization

Research on the pathophysiological characteristics of Alzheimer disease (AD) over the past decade has been directed toward the ultimate goal of developing a disease-modifying treatment to control or prevent the disease. A report recently published in Nature 1 describes for the first time a treatment that may both prevent and treat the progression of Alzheimer disease. The treatment ironically involves immunization with the pathological β-amyloid peptide itself to generate an immune response targeted against the amyloid plaques in the brain. These findings have raised a number of scientific and clinical questions that are discussed below.