University scientists explore dietary copper as a possible Alzheimer's treatment

• Treatment starts after all prerequisites to participate have been met.
• Half of the patients receive 8 mg copper orotate per day, the other half a placebo.
• During the 12-month long double-blind phase, there will be extensive laboratory, clinical and neuropsychological tests.
• After the double-blind phase, we offer an open-label phase for all patients.
• At present, 15 patients have finished the double-blind phase.
• Alzheimer is characterized by the presence of amyloid plaques, which are composed primarily of Aß peptide.
• Aß is produced within neurons and is liberated from the larger amyloid ß protein precursor (AßPP).
• Lower levels of copper have been reported in the brain of AßPP transgenic mice and post-mortem in AD patients.
• This concept has been found to be true also in vitro by Professor Dr. Gerd Multhaup (FU Berlin) in 1999.
• Two recent papers, which have been published in PNAS in 2003 have proven a beneficial effect of elevated copper in transgenic AßPP mice.
• In the present study, the teams led by Bayer and Multhaup have found that low copper level in blood correlates with advanced memory deficits, as tested by the well established ADAS-cog neuropsychological test battery.
• Patients with higher blood copper levels make fewer mistakes in this memory test.
• This result supports the notion of a mild copper deficiency in AD patients.
• An increased uptake of dietary copper may therefore be therapeutically relevant.