Serum MHPG strongly predicts conversion to Alzheimer's disease in behaviorally characterized subjects with Down syndrome.

Background: Down syndrome (DS) is the most prevalent genetic cause of intellectual disability. Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) frequently develops in DS and is characterized by progressive memory loss and behavioral and psychological signs and symptoms of dementia (BPSD). Predicting and monitoring the progression of AD in DS is necessary to enable adaptive caretaking.

LPYFDa neutralizes amyloid-beta-induced memory impairment and toxicity.

Misfolding, oligomerization, and aggregation of the amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide is widely recognized as a central event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent studies have identified soluble Abeta oligomers as the main pathogenic agents and provided evidence that such oligomeric Abeta aggregates are neurotoxic, disrupt synaptic plasticity, and inhibit long-term potentiation. A promising therapeutic strategy in the battle against AD is the application of short synthetic peptides which are designed to bind to specific Abeta-regions thereby neutralizing or interfering with the devastating properties of oligomeric Abeta species.