The cause of the progression of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain discovered – South West

Clusters of toxic proteins, thought to be responsible for the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease, reach different areas of the brain and accumulate there over decades, according to a new study released Friday.

The article, published in “Science Advances”, is the first to use human data to quantify the rate of molecular processes leading to this neurodegenerative disease, and could influence the way treatments are designed.

It also overturns the theory that clumps form in one place and trigger a chain reaction in other areas, a pattern seen in mice. Such a spread can occur, but is not the main driver, according to the researchers.

“Two things made this work possible,” says Georg Meisl, a chemist at Cambridge University and one of the lead authors of the article.

“First the study of very detailed data from PET scans (a type of medical imaging examination, nldr) and various sets of data put together, and the mathematical models that have been developed over the past ten years . “

The researchers used 400 brain samples taken after the death of people with Alzheimer’s and 100 PET scans from people living with the disease to track tau protein aggregation.

This and another protein called beta-amyloid build up, causing brain cell death and brain shrinkage.

This notably causes memory loss and an inability to perform daily tasks. This disease is one of the main public health problems, and affects more than 40 million people worldwide.

The researchers also found that it took five years for the aggregates to double in number. This is an “encouraging” figure, according to Georg Meisl, because it shows that neurons are already capable of fighting aggregates.

“Delay the onset of the disease”

“Maybe if we can improve them a bit, we can significantly delay the onset of critical illness. “

Alzheimer’s disease is classified according to “Braak’s stages,” and scientists have found that it takes about 35 years to go from stage 3, where mild symptoms appear, to stage 6, the most advanced.

The aggregates are growing exponentially, which explains “why the disease takes so long to develop, and why the condition of people tends to worsen rapidly”, according to Georg Meisl.

“Hopefully this study and others will help guide the development of future treatments targeting the tau protein, so that they have a better chance of slowing the disease and helping people with dementia,” said in a press release Sara Imarisio, from Alzheimer’s Research UK.

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