Dual therapy could treat AD -- if it can cross into clinic

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and colleagues found concurrently inducing neurogenesis and raising neuroprotective brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels could treat Alzheimer's disease, but it's not clear if -- or how -- such strategies could translate into the clinic.

A growing body of research has long pointed to BDNF's neuroprotective effects, including a 2009 Nature Medicine article showing higher BDNF consistently protected against synapse loss, neuronal death and atrophy in six AD mouse, rat and monkey models (see "New Home for BDNF")...