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  • Brief Communications Arising
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Seeds of neuroendocrine doubt

Nature volume 535, pages E1–E2 (2016)Cite this article

ARISING FROM Z. Jaunmuktane et al. Nature 525, 247–250 (2015); doi:10.1038/nature15369

The possibility of human-to-human transmission of Alzheimer’s disease has not been considered until recently. A landmark study, published in September 2015 in Nature, reports the probable seeding of amyloid-β (Aβ; a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease) from cadaveric human growth hormone (c-hGH) pituitary preparations in individuals who also developed iatrogenic Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease (iCJD) from the same source1. Here, we argue that c-hGH was historically used to treat rare neuroendocrine disease and that these diseases or treatment with growth hormone could result in Aβ pathology per se. Without a control group of the same patient cohort who neither received c-hGH nor developed iCJD, we believe that the authors are premature to infer an iatrogenic source of Alzheimer’s disease. There is a Reply to this Brief Communication Arising by Collinge, J. et al. Nature 535, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature18603 (2016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, W12 0NN, UK

    Claire Feeney, Gregory P. Scott, James H. Cole, Magdalena Sastre, Anthony P. Goldstone & Robert Leech

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  1. Claire Feeney
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  2. Gregory P. Scott
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Contributions

C.F. wrote the article. G.P.S. contributed to writing the article. J.H.C., M.S., A.P.G. and R.L. revised the manuscript and contributed to its content.

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Correspondence to Claire Feeney.

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Feeney, C., Scott, G., Cole, J. et al. Seeds of neuroendocrine doubt. Nature 535, E1–E2 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature18602

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