Researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University announced a collaboration with Nymox Corp. (Nasdaq:NYMX) to use the company's diagnostic test for neural thread protein (NTP) in its ongoing research on nutrition, cognitive functioning, dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Under the initial research agreement, Tufts scientists will include the Nymox NTP test in their evaluation of two important groups of study participants -- a population of home-bound elderly people, and a group of aging veterans who are followed as outpatients. Tufts' research already has shown a relationship between cognitive functioning and blood homocysteine levels (related to B vitamin nutritional status.) The NTP test confirms chemical changes in the brain strongly correlated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
"We believe the neural thread protein test will provide us with additional valuable information in our study of the causes and prevention of this devastating and incurable condition," said Irwin H. Rosenberg, M.D., senior scientist at the center and dean of the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts.
Initial research findings from this collaboration are expected in late 2002.
"We're thrilled to be working with Tufts and the Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging on this project because of the unparalleled opportunity it provides our scientists to work with the country's leading researchers on aging," said Dr. Michael Munzar, Medical Director of Nymox.
Nymox (Nasdaq:NYMX) is a biopharmaceutical company based in Maywood, N.J. and Montreal. It markets and develops products in the areas of diseases of the elderly such as Alzheimer's disease, benign prostatic hyperplasia, osteoporosis, and diagnostics. The Company's newest patented product is the NicAlert(TM) saliva test, which is an easy-to-use, inexpensive, and quantitative test for tobacco exposure.
The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University is the only independent school of nutrition in North America. The school's eight centers, which focus on questions relating to famine, hunger, poverty, and communications, are renowned for the application of scientific research to national and international policy. For two decades, the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University has studied the relationship between good nutrition and good health in aging populations. Tufts research scientists work with federal agencies to establish the USDA Dietary Guidelines, the Dietary Reference Intakes, and other significant public policies.
