A team of scientists from Northwestern University (USA) has managed to stop the early development of Alzheimer’s disease in an animal model using an experimental drug called NU-9. The treatment acted before symptoms appeared, which opens … the door to a new early prevention strategy against this neurodegenerative disease.
The study, to be published December 18 in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia, identified a previously unknown and highly toxic subtype of beta-amyloid oligomers, small clumps of proteins that appear to trigger some of the early brain changes of Alzheimer’s. These changes include neuronal dysfunction, inflammation, and abnormal activation of immune cells in the brain.
The researchers showed that NU-9 significantly reduces this toxic subtype and the damage it causes in mice, reducing early brain inflammation and other key markers of the disease. In particular, the drug reduced the abnormal activation of astrocytescells that normally protect neurons, but can become harmful in Alzheimer’s, and decreased an altered form of the protein TDP-43, associated with cognitive decline.
“Alzheimer’s disease begins decades before symptoms appear,” explains Daniel Kranz, first author of the study. «When it is diagnosed, the brain damage is already very advanced. “That is why many clinical trials have failed: they start too late.”
NU-9 was originally developed to treat other neurodegenerative diseases and has already shown efficacy in animal models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In 2024, the drug received authorization to begin clinical trials in humans for that disease.
Neurons
The most relevant finding of the new study is the identification of a specific subtype of beta-amyloid, called ACU193+, which appears very early within neurons and then accumulates in nearby astrocytes, triggering an inflammatory response that could spread throughout the brain.
By drastically reducing this subtype, NU-9 could act as a ua kind of preventive treatmentsimilar to drugs used to lower cholesterol and prevent heart problems before they occur.
Researchers continue to test NU-9 in other Alzheimer’s models and plan long-term studies to evaluate whether early treatment can preserve memory and neural health over time.
