We also want to find out exactly how the vaccine works. At the same time, other cells seem to home in on the tagged antibodies and eat away the amyloid. Yet other cells may attack the plaques directly. We need to pin down all the specifics. Since he originated the idea of oral vaccines for immune-system diseases some 15 years ago, Weiner and others have tried them on many different ailments.
Human tests are now underway of an oral vaccine for multiple sclerosis.
Some 1,600 patients are involved in tests going on at a number of sites, including Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, where both Weiner and Selkoe work. An oral vaccine to prevent juvenile diabetes is being given to several hundred children in various centers throughout the United States. This trial is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health Inflammation in Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis share similarities with plaques and inflammation associated with thickening and blocking of human arteries. Weiner and Ruth Maron are collaborating with Peter Libby at Brigham and Women's Hospital to test a nasal vaccine on mice engineered to develop dangerously high levels of cholesterol. Results so far are encouraging.