Alzheimer's pioneer supports open access publishing

11 Apr 2008

The promise of a new approach for Alzheimer's disease therapy has been highlighted by a feature on the BBC website, producing optimism that further study of this new approach will finally receive the proper financial support.

The recently published study from the open access Journal of Neuroinflammation documented a dramatic and unprecedented therapeutic effect in an Alzheimer's patient: improvement within minutes following perispinal etanercept. Etanercept (trade name Enbrel) binds and inactivates excess TNF. Although the original research was carried out in California, it now appears that the first placebo-controlled trials may be started in England.

"It is imperative that the medical and scientific communities immediately undertake to further investigate and characterize the physiologic mechanisms involved. This gives all of us in Alzheimer research a tremendous new clue about new avenues of research, which is so exciting and so needed in the field of Alzheimer's." said Sue Griffin, Ph.D., of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Neuroinflammation.

The lead author of the study, Edward Tobinick MD, is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA and Director of the Institute for Neurological Research. Tobinick said of his support for open access publishing. "Fee-based print journals, which charge for each copy, are no match for open access's ability to rapidly deliver the latest medical information directly to those who need to know."

"My colleagues and I could not be more pleased with BioMed Central and open access. Formerly our research would only be available within medical libraries. Now access to the entire article, and the associated supporting files, graphics, and videos is instantaneous. The Internet allows BioMed Central's journals to deliver their content within seconds, a true revolution," commented Dr. Tobinick.

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Rapid cognitive improvement in Alzheimer's disease following perispinal etanercept administration
Edward L Tobinick and Hyman Gross
Journal of Neuroinflammation, (9 January 2008)

Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

More information on Dr. Tobinick's research, at http://www.nrimed.com

Journal of Neuroinflammation (http://www.jneuroinflammation.com) is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal that focuses on innate immunological responses of the central nervous system, involving microglia, astrocytes, cytokines, chemokines, and related molecular processes.

BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an independent online publishing house committed to providing immediate access without charge to the peer-reviewed biological and medical research it publishes. This commitment is based on the view that open access to research is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of science.