The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7271 p536
18 October 2003

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Infectious Diseases Society of America (www.idsociety.org)

Antibiotics for Alzheimer's

Doxycycline and rifampicin may delay decline in Alzheimer's disease, Canadian researchers report. They assessed the effect of the combination in 101 patients. After six months, a significant reduction in decline in a standardised Alzheimer’s disease assessment scale was observed in the antibiotic group compared with placebo. The study was initiated because of past reports of detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers found no difference in C pneumoniae between the two study groups and so comment that this is unlikely to explain the antibiotics’ action in Alzheimer’s disease.

The results were presented at an Infectious Diseases Society of America meeting in San Diego.