An Effective IV Infusion for Alzheimer’s?

In 2008 I summarized a report of a 9-month study of the use of IV infusions of immunoglobulin for the treatment of Alzheimer’s. Now the July issue of the journal Neurology contains a retrospective analysis of people who have received IV immunoglobulin in the past for a variety of conditions, to determine whether they have developed Alzheimer’s disease.

Using medical claims data from a national database, the researchers identified 847 patients 65 or older who had received treatment with IV immunoglobulin; the most common uses were for immune deficiencies, leukemia, other cancers, and thrombocytopenia. Only 13% of cases received only one treatment; the average number was 14. The patients were matched (by age, gender, risk factors for Alzheimer’s) with 84,700 controls who didn’t receive immunoglobulin.

During a 5-year follow-up, 2.6% of the patients given immunoglobulin developed Alzheimer’s, compared with 4.6% of the controls. This was a statistically significant difference and a relevant result - not quite a halving of risk. Taken together with the results from the 2008-reported trial (which was very small), the findings provide considerable impetus for further studies. An 18-month placebo-controlled clinical study of immunoglobulin in the treatment of Alzheimer’s is now recruiting patients; it’s being run by Baxter Healthcare Corporation, the manufacturers of immunoglobulin. The results will be awaited with great interest.