Vitamin B1 for Alzheimer’s treatment? Researchers land US$45M to investigate link

20 Jul 2022 --- A team of researchers in the US is set to investigate the effect of benfotiamine – a synthetic version of thiamine vitamin B1 – as a metabolic treatment approach to Alzheimer’s disease, after landing a US$45 million grant from the National Institute of Health and National Institute on Aging.

“We are glad to receive this funding, which will enable expanded testing of benfotiamine [derivative of thiamine] through to its clinical proof of concept, including adaptively testing for the optimal dose and treatment response across clinical and biomarker measures,” says Howard Feldman, dean of Alzheimer’s disease research and professor of neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

Set to begin in early 2023, the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS) at the University of California San Diego, in partnership with Burke Neurological Institute (BNI) and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, will enroll about 400 patients for the research at up to 50 clinical trial locations in the US.

“This important grant will allow us to test the treatment with hundreds of Alzheimer’s disease patients across the US. We are eager to begin this critical new stage of the research,” says Gary Gibson, co-principal investigator and professor of neuroscience at Brain Mind Research Institute, part of Weill Cornell Medicine College.

Alzheimer’s and benfotiamine
Over 18 months, participants in the benfotiamine trial will be observed using various methods, including cognitive tests and blood markers that indicate the progression and status of Alzheimer’s disease and MCI.

According to researchers, this trial will advance the goals of the ADCS, which are to create and evaluate treatments for those at risk for or already have symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

Increasing thiamine to high levels with benfotiamine supplementation proved protective against Alzheimer’s-like symptoms.ADCS will coordinate the multi-center trial to determine if benfotiamine at large dosages is beneficial for patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease or moderate cognitive impairment (MCI) brought on by Alzheimer’s disease.

The research addresses thiamine-regulated metabolic system tissue deficiency associated with AD. Previous studies have discovered a link between this thiamine deficiency and a decrease in glucose metabolism.

Previous studies demonstrated that elevating thiamine to very high levels with benfotiamine supplementation proved protective against Alzheimer’s-like symptoms.

Natural treatment?
The ADCS is also involved in two programs exploring treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.

The first is examining the use of gene therapy to treat AD and the other is a “powder for pennies” (P4P) program intended to speed up the testing of current or repurposed medications and natural products for its treatment.

An effective example of the P4P strategy is benfotiamine. If successful, the treatment would be broadly accessible and reasonably priced.

According to estimates, approximately 13 million US citizens will have AD by 2050, up from the current 6 million.At ADCS, other strategies are being developed, including interventions in education and lifestyle.

Preventing dementia
A bilingual, bicultural program known as HALT-AD, a pilot for the Healthy Actions and Lifestyles to Avoid Dementia or Hispanos y el ALTo a la Dementia, enlists community members to participate in educational programs and discussion groups so they can learn more about dementia and put preventive measures into practice.

“It’s crucial that ADCS looks at new possibilities for preventing and treating dementia. All indicators suggest we can progress by implementing a wide range of study methods,” says Feldman.

The benfotiamine study is a continuation of work funded by the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF).

ADDF co-founder and chief science officer Howard Fillit notes: “It is gratifying to see research which the ADDF initially identified as promising and supported in a pilot study continue funding from the NIH’s National Institute on Aging.

“With the improved biomarkers developed since the pilot, this next phase will provide a deeper understanding of how benfotiamine works in the brain.”

Previously, NutrtitionInsight reported that elderly persons with vitamin K deficiency have lower levels of cognitive well-being and poorer brain health, according to a large-scale, Gnosis by Lesaffre study.

Also, within the vitamin K realm, NattoPharma unveiled a study that suggested vitamin K2 could be a “prevention” strategy for Alzheimer’s disease. However, the researchers cautioned that more clinical research is required.

By Nicole Kerr