Trevitt CR, Collinge J. 2006. A systematic review of prion therapeutics in experimental models (Brain 129:2241-2265)

This is a review article from the MRC Prion Unit at University College London, published in Brain in July 2006 (print September 2006), that gathers experimental prion therapeutic studies from roughly the preceding 30 years. Its abstract states that most candidate treatments in experimental models had at best modest disease-modifying effects, while newer animal, cell and in vitro models had produced some promising proof-of-principle results. The authors present it as comprehensive and systematic rather than selective, meant as a reference for later laboratory and clinical work. In the atlas it is a background reference for why repurposed small molecules entered human use with weak preclinical support. Only the abstract and indexing were read, so what follows is aggregate and abstract-level. Information only.

Key facts

  • The citation is verified: Trevitt CR and Collinge J, "A systematic review of prion therapeutics in experimental models", Brain, volume 129, issue 9, pages 2241-2265, DOI 10.1093/brain/awl150, PMID 16816391.
  • The article is classed as a Review Article by the publisher and as a Systematic Review by PubMed.
  • Authors are listed with the MRC Prion Unit and the UCL Institute of Neurology (Queen Square, London).
  • Dates: received 6 January 2006, accepted 8 May 2006, published online 1 July 2006, added to PubMed 4 July 2006; the print issue is September 2006.
  • The abstract says about 30 years of experimental treatment studies had produced at best modest disease-modifying effects.
  • The abstract links the renewed search for therapies to the emergence of variant CJD in the UK in the 1990s and cites newer models giving some promising proof-of-principle results.
  • The stated aim is a comprehensive, systematic review as a resource for future laboratory and clinical therapeutic research.
  • PubMed indexing for the paper covers antibacterial, anticoagulant, antimalarial, antiviral, tetracycline, polyamine, glycosaminoglycan and Congo red terms plus immunotherapy, which signals the range of agent classes it covered; the indexing does not say which agents were effective.
  • The work is recorded as funded by the Medical Research Council (grant MC_U123192748); Europe PMC counted 178 citations at the time of retrieval.

Timeline

  1. 2006Manuscript received by Brain (6 January).
  2. 2006Accepted for publication (8 May).
  3. 2006Published online (1 July) and added to PubMed (4 July).
  4. 2006Appears in the print issue, Brain 129 (9).

People

Last checked 1 November 2026

Sources for this page