A Copper-Lowering Strategy Attenuates Amyloid Pathology in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease

There is increasing evidence for the crucial role of metals in the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. Both the aggregation and neurotoxicity of beta amyloid are dependent on the presence of copper. This study investigated the ability of the copper-complexing drug tetrathiomolybdate to reduce beta amyloid pathology and spatial memory impairment in both a prevention and a treatment paradigm in the Tg2576 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Tetrathiomolybdate treatment lowered brain copper and reduced beta amyloid levels in the prevention paradigm, but not in the treatment paradigm. Our data suggests that controlled lowering of systemic copper may achieve anti-amyloid effects if initiated early in the disease process.