Recent data from in vitro, animal, and human studies have shed new light on the positive roles of copper in many aspects of AD.\nCopper promotes the non-amyloidogenic processing of APP and thereby lowers the A�Ÿ production in cell culture systems, and\nit increases lifetime and decreases soluble amyloid production in APP transgenic mice. In a clinical trial with Alzheimer patients,\nthe decline of A�Ÿ levels in CSF, which is a diagnostic marker, is diminished in the verum group (8 mg copper/day), indicating a\nbeneficial effect of the copper treatment. These observations are in line with the benefit of treatment with compounds aimed at\nnormalizing metal levels in the brain, such as PBT2. The data reviewed here demonstrate that there is an apparent disturbance in\nmetal homeostasis in AD. More research is urgently needed to understand how this disturbance can be addressed therapeutically.
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