Home › Research › Treatments
Passive amyloid-β immunotherapy in Alzheimer's disease: a multicellular clearance system beyond plaque removal
Zhan X, Liu C, Yu C, Lindblom N, Deierborg T, Kobro-Flatmoen A, Gouras GK, Wen G.. Molecular neurodegeneration, 2026-07-16
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Passive immunotherapy targeting amyloid-β (Aβ) has emerged as a major therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease (AD), yet its clinical benefits remain modest and are frequently accompanied by vascular adverse events such as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA). While the removal of extracellular Aβ plaques is associated with therapeutic efficacy, accumulating evidence suggests that additional cellular and vascular mechanisms may also contribute to complementary therapeutic outcomes alongside plaque removal. Recent studies show that Aβ antibodies are broadly distributed within the brain and interact with multiple neural and immune cell populations, rather than being limited to Aβ plaques. These observations support an expanded view of passive Aβ immunotherapy as a multicellular coordinated clearance process. Aβ antibodies engage diverse cellular and anatomical compartments, including neurons, glial cells, perivascular macrophages, peripheral immune cells, and meningeal lymphatic pathways, thereby influencing Aβ dynamics across intracellular and extracellular pools. Within this framework, therapeutic outcomes are influenced not only by plaque clearance but also by interactions between Aβ antibodies and cellular and anatomical compartments that regulate Aβ clearance and treatment-associated vascular response. This perspective may help explain variability in clinical efficacy and the emergence of vascular side effects, while also providing additional considerations for optimizing Aβ antibody design and therapeutic strategies.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Zhan, X., Liu, C., Yu, C., Lindblom, N., Deierborg, T., Kobro-Flatmoen, A., et al. (2026). Passive amyloid-β immunotherapy in Alzheimer's disease: a multicellular clearance system beyond plaque removal. Molecular neurodegeneration. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13024-026-00972-y
Vancouver
Zhan X, Liu C, Yu C, Lindblom N, Deierborg T, Kobro-Flatmoen A, et al. Passive amyloid-β immunotherapy in Alzheimer's disease: a multicellular clearance system beyond plaque removal. Molecular neurodegeneration. 2026. doi:10.1186/s13024-026-00972-y. PMID: 42464289.
BibTeX
@article{zhan2026-42464289,
author = {Zhan, X. and Liu, C. and Yu, C. and Lindblom, N. and Deierborg, T. and Kobro-Flatmoen, A. and Gouras, G. K. and Wen, G.},
title = {{Passive amyloid-β immunotherapy in Alzheimer's disease: a multicellular clearance system beyond plaque removal}},
journal = {Molecular neurodegeneration},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1186/s13024-026-00972-y},
pmid = {42464289},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13024-026-00972-y}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 8 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- While the removal of extracellular Aβ plaques is associated with therapeutic efficacy, accumulating evidence suggests that additional cellular and vascular mechanisms may also contribute to complementary therapeutic outcomes alongside plaque removal.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Treatments →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 47/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 27 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 47 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Molecular neurodegeneration) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 42464289) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 27 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 27 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 47 out of 100. |
| Total | 47 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Related
Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.
Related studies in Treatments
Also tagged “removal”
3 studies in the library carry the topic tag “removal”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 3 tagged studies.