Transcranial Electromagnetic Treatment Against Alzheimer's Disease: Why it has the Potential to Trump Alzheimer's Disease Drug Development
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2012
Keywords
AD transgenic mice, amyloid-β, cognitive benefits, electromagnetic treatment, mitochondrial function, neuronal activity, transcranial
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-2012-120943
Abstract
The universal failure of pharmacologic interventions against Alzheimer's disease (AD) appears largely due to their inability to get into neurons and the fact that most have a single mechanism-of-action. A non-invasive, neuromodulatory approach against AD has consequently emerged: transcranial electromagnetic treatment (TEMT). In AD transgenic mice, long-term TEMT prevents and reverses both cognitive impairment and brain amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition, while TEMT even improves cognitive performance in normal mice. Three disease-modifying and inter-related mechanisms of TEMT action have been identified in the brain: 1) anti-Aβ aggregation, both intraneuronally and extracellularly; 2) mitochondrial enhancement; and 3) increased neuronal activity. Long-term TEMT appears safe in that it does not impact brain temperature or oxidative stress levels, nor does it induce any abnormal histologic/anatomic changes in the brain or peripheral tissues. Future TEMT development in both AD mice and normal mice should involve head-only treatment to discover the most efficacious set of parameters for achieving faster and even greater cognitive benefit. Given the already extensive animal work completed, translational development of TEMT could occur relatively quickly to “proof of concept” AD clinical trials. TEMT's mechanisms of action provide extraordinary therapeutic potential against other neurologic disorders/injuries, such as Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, and stroke.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, v. 32, issue 2, p. 243-266
Scholar Commons Citation
Arendash, Gary W., "Transcranial Electromagnetic Treatment Against Alzheimer's Disease: Why it has the Potential to Trump Alzheimer's Disease Drug Development" (2012). Molecular Biosciences Faculty Publications. 85.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/bcm_facpub/85
