A beta peptide vaccination prevents memory loss in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease

Vaccinations with amyloid-beta peptide (AB) can dramatically reduce amyloid deposition in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease(1). To deter mine if the vaccinations had deleterious or beneficial functional consequen ces, we tested eight months of A beta vaccination in a different transgenic model for Alzheimer's disease in which mice develop learning deficits as a myloid accumulates(2,3). Here we show that vaccination with A beta protects transgenic mice from the learning and age-related memory deficits that nor mally occur in this mouse model for Alzheimer's disease. During testing for potential deleterious effects of the vaccine, all mice performed superbly on the radial-arm water-maze test of working memory. Later, at an age when untreated transgenic mice show memory deficits, the A beta -vaccinated tran sgenic mice showed cognitive performance superior to that of the control tr ansgenic mice and, ultimately, performed as well as nontransgenic mice. The A beta -vaccinated mice also had a partial reduction in amyloid burden at the end of the study. This therapeutic approach may thus prevent and, possi bly, treat Alzheimer's dementia.