New findings in gene therapy research will likely translate to novel treatments for Alzheimer’s disease in the years ahead, experts say.

Laboratory studies involving animals have found that therapeutic gene transfer to specific brain regions tied to Alzheimer's have “uncovered multiple potential treatment approaches that deserve to be considered as candidates for clinical applications,” according to a report published in the journal Human Gene Therapy.

The article — entitled "Gene Therapy Strategies for Alzheimer's Disease: An Overview" — is part of a special issue of the publication focusing on advances in gene and cell therapy research in France to be presented at an upcoming meeting in Marseilles.

That work — led by researchers at INSERM in Paris — includes a variety of advances made in genetic therapy that could translate into new treatments for Alzheimer’s, which is incurable and currently has no effective treatments.

These include strategies that act directly on the development of amyloid plaque proteins in the brain (a hallmark of Alzheimer’s), as well as methods to protect brain cells, combat inflammation, regulate genes related to fats in the blood, and target apolipoprotein E (APOE) — the primary gene linked to the memory-robbing disease.

"Alzheimer's disease is the great challenge of 21st century medicine, looming as an enormous burden to healthcare and society as a whole as the baby boom generation ages," says Dr. Terence R. Flotte, Editor-in-Chief of Human Gene Therapy as well as dean, provost, and executive deputy chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.

"Gene therapy has the potential to provide the breakthrough that is needed at this critical time."