A tuberculosis vaccine could hold clues to tackling dementia BCG vaccination reduced tau pathology and neuroinflammation in mice, prompting researchers to investigate whether trained immunity could inform future treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Written byBree Foster, PhD

A tuberculosis vaccine could hold clues to tackling dementia BCG vaccination reduced tau pathology and neuroinflammation in mice, prompting researchers to investigate whether trained immunity could inform future treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Written byBree Foster, PhD https://www.drugdiscoverynews.com/a-tuberculosis-vaccine-could-hold-clues-to-tackling-dementia-17597 First administered to a human infant in 1921, the Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine was developed to protect against tuberculosis. More than a century later, BCG remains the only licensed vaccine against tuberculosis and is now used for a range of conditions, including leprosy and bladder cancer. Now, researchers are investigating whether the vaccine could also treat neurodegenerative disease. Several retrospective studies have linked BCG treatment for bladder cancer with a lower incidence of dementia, although these findings cannot establish that the vaccine itself is responsible. In a new study, researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine explored this connection in mice with tauopathy, a group of brain disorders characterized by the abnormal accumulation of tau protein.