methylene blue and Tau

[olsen]

The brain man
BY: JEANNE WHALEN From: The Wall Street Journal November 19, 2012

SOME people collect stamps, others vintage cars. As a young PhD student at the University of Cambridge in the 1980s, Claude Wischik was on a mission to collect brains.

It wasn't easy. At the time, few organ banks kept entire brains. But Wischik, an Australian who was in his early 30s at the time, was trying to answer a riddle still puzzling the scientific community: what causes Alzheimer's disease?..


In his lifelong investigation, Wischik has backed a minority scientific view that a protein called tau - which forms twisted fibres known as tangles inside the brain cells of Alzheimer's patients - is largely responsible for driving the disease...

The company Wischik co-founded 10 years ago, TauRx Pharmaceuticals, is based in Singapore but conducts most of its research in Scotland, where he now lives. As his tau effort was launched, early tests of drugs designed to attack amyloid plaques were disappointing...

In 2004 TauRx began a clinical trial of its drug, called methylene blue, in 332 Alzheimer's patients...



But TauRx did not publish a full set of data from the trial and this led to some scepticism among researchers. (Wischik says it didn't protect the company's commercial interests.)

What's more, a higher, 100mg dose of the drug didn't produce the same positive effects in patients. Wischik blames this on the way the 100mg dose was formulated and says the company is testing a tweaked version of the drug in its new clinical trials, which will begin enrolling patients this year.

With its new clinical trial program under way, TauRx is the first company to test a tau-targeted drug against Alzheimer's in a large human study, known in the industry as a phase 3 trial.

Wischik admits he may be just as much a zealot about tau as he accuses others of being about beta amyloid. "I may be," he says. "In the end ... it's down to the phase three trial."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/busi...-1226519142271

[VICTORIALOU]

This link should get you there

[soccertese]

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/t...ource=internal

[reverett123]

Interesting wording in that Wall Street Journal piece. I wonder what led the reporter to drop that little stone in the pond with no more? Also, it seems that the good doctor has reason to be cynical about honor among scientists and to desire to raise clouds at every opportunity until he gets maximum patent security. These guys are definitely on to something. The fact that $300 million just walked through the door kind of confirms it as well.

This quote is interesting as well. He pretty well admits to stirring things up to muddy the gold fish bowl, as it were. But it also gives the first clue to the dosages that everyone was wondering about-
"The TauRx results Dr. Wischik presented were more positive, though not unequivocal. The study showed that, after 50 weeks of treatment, Alzheimer's patients taking a placebo had fallen 7.8 points on a test of cognitive function, while people taking 60 mg of TauRx's drug three times a day had fallen one point—translating into an 87% reduction in the rate of decline for people taking the TauRx drug.

But TauRx didn't publish a full set of data from the trial, causing some skepticism among researchers. (Dr. Wischik says it didn't to protect the company's commercial interests). What's more, a higher, 100-mg dose of the drug didn't produce the same positive effects in patients; Dr. Wischik blames this on the way the 100-mg dose was formulated, and says the company is testing a tweaked version of the drug in its new clinical trials, which will begin enrolling patients late this year. "

So, initially they tried 60 mg x 3 daily and saw progress. Then they tried a 100 mg dose with maybe a different spacing or an extended release or something and were disappointed.

Very interesting indeed. At some point I am going to tire of waiting for the AD group and go down to the local pet shop and tell them I have a real sick gold fish.....

[reverett123]

I wasn't familiar with it but it seems to prevent and dissolve tau protein. Health food store stuff.

[VICTORIALOU]

It is a major ingredient in an agricultural fertilizer from China called Shenmingsu- made by Yongye International.

"Fulvic acid is extracted from humic acids. The Company obtains its humic acids from lignite coal which is also known as Leonardite Coal. China has approximately 12% of the world’s Leonardite Coal reserves (World Energy Council) and 250MM tons much of this is found in Inner Mongolia (from company report).

Fulvic acid strengthens the cell walls of plants and animals and acts as a transport mechanism to speed the absorption of essential minerals and nutrients by cells while promoting cell formation. The Company adds to this base its own mixture of macro and micro nutrients to ensure plant growth. These formulas help bind and stabilize the light weight molecules in fulvic acid with the additional components and stabilize it for use on crops. (company report)

The Company’s current universal plant nutrient product is a liquid nutrient which is applied via a foliar spray. Yongye now has two patents pending for this mixture and stabilization process in its plant and animal nutrient products."

Originally Posted by reverett123

I wasn't familiar with it but it seems to prevent and dissolve tau protein. Health food store stuff.