TY - JOUR T1 - Intravenous immunoglobulins containing antibodies against β-amyloid for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease JF - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry JO - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry SP - 1472 LP - 1474 DO - 10.1136/jnnp.2003.033399 VL - 75 IS - 10 AU - R C Dodel AU - Y Du AU - C Depboylu AU - H Hampel AU - L Frölich AU - A Haag AU - U Hemmeter AU - S Paulsen AU - S J Teipel AU - S Brettschneider AU - A Spottke AU - C Nölker AU - H J Möller AU - X Wei AU - M Farlow AU - N Sommer AU - W H Oertel Y1 - 2004/10/01 UR - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/75/10/1472.abstract N2 - Objective: Active or passive immunisation can mitigate plaque pathology in murine models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recently, it has been shown that antibodies against β-amyloid (Aβ) are present in human immunoglobulin preparations (IVIgG), which specifically recognise and inhibit the neurotoxic effects of Aβ. This study reports the results from a pilot study using IVIgG in patients with AD. Methods: Five patients with AD were enrolled and received monthly IVIgG over a 6 month period. Efficacy assessment included total Aβ/Aβ1–42 measured in the CSF/serum as well as effects on cognition (ADAS-cog; CERAD) at baseline and at 6 months following IVIgG. Results: Following IVIgG, total Aβ levels in the CSF decreased by 30.1% (17.3–43.5%) compared to baseline (p<0.05). Total Aβ increased in the serum by 233% (p<0.05). No significant change was found in Aβ1–42 levels in the CSF/serum. Using ADAS-cog, an improvement of 3.7±2.9 points was detected. Scores in the MMSE were essentially unchanged (improved in four patients, stable in one patient) following IVIgG compared to baseline. Conclusion: Although the sample size of this pilot study is too small to draw a clear conclusion, the results of this pilot study provide evidence for a more detailed investigation of IVIgG for the treatment of AD. ER -