AN ANTIBIOTIC that removes metals from the brain is emerging as a prime candidate for treating Alzheimer’s. This boosts a controversial theory that blames the accumulation of metals, rather than the formation of insoluble plaques, for the disease’s characteristic mental deterioration.
The antibiotic, clioquinol, binds to copper and zinc, and is small enough to get into the brain. It is no longer manufactured but was last used in the 1970s to treat intestinal infections. Now Ashley Bush and his colleagues at Harvard Medical School, the University of Melbourne and Prana Biotechnology in Melbourne are trying to resurrect the drug to…
