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The immune system and Alzheimer's disease
November 27, 2001Utrecht researchers, funded by NWO, have determined the role played by brain cells from the immune system that are located close to dying memory cells. The research will help determine the causes of Alzheimer's disease.
In patients with Alzheimer's disease, the brain cells die off. The death of these neurones takes place primarily in the vicinity of so-called 'plaques'. These are lumps of the protein amyloid beta.
The NWO research shows that amyloid beta from the plaques stimulates the surrounding cells to produce 'CC chemokines'. In laboratory experiments, these substances attract new surrounding cells.
Two types of brain cells are found near the plaques, of which brain macrophages are one. Brain macrophages form part of the immune system of the brain and normally speaking destroy bacteria and waste products. The Utrecht research shows that the amyloid beta protein from the plaques causes the brain macrophages to produce toxic substances. These substances, oxygen radicals and compounds that promote inflammation, cause the brain cells to die off.
The other type of surrounding brain cells are the astrocytes. These star-shaped cells are normally involved in maintaining the structure of the brain. The role of the astrocytes in Alzheimer's disease is unclear. Laboratory experiments have shown that astrocytes do not produce toxic substances and that they in fact slow down the macrophages.
About 180,000 people in the Netherlands suffer from some kind of dementia. Of these, 130,000 have Alzheimer's disease. By the year 2050, the number of patients with Alzheimer's disease will have passed the 300,000 mark. That is equivalent to 1 in every 60 people in the country.
Alzheimer's disease leads to generalised atrophy of the brain tissue. Patients first lose their short-term memory. This is followed by changes in their behaviour, such as wandering and agitation. At a later stage, patients can no longer talk and are unable to recognise faces. They eventually require constant care.
NWO (Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research)
Alzheimer Disease Current Events and Alzheimer Disease News RSSDelirium in hospitalized adults: Situation critical, no relief available
Every year as many as seven million adults in the United States experience delirium during hospitalization.
New data demonstrate potential for early detection of Alzheimer's disease
Data published in the June issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease demonstrated that minimally-invasive biospectroscopy was able to identify changes in oxidative stress (OS) levels in blood plasma, which may prove to be a useful biomarker in the early detection of Alzheimer's disease.
Another McGill/JGH breakthrough opens door to early Alzheimer's diagnosis
A new diagnostic technique which may greatly simplify the detection of Alzheimer's disease has been discovered by researchers at McGill University and the affiliated Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital (JGH).
Measuring brain atrophy in patients with mild cognitive impairment
Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown that a fully automated procedure called Volumetric MRI - which measures the "memory centers" of the brain and compares them to expected size - is effective in predicting the progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease.
Commonly used medications may produce cognitive impairment in older adults
Many drugs commonly prescribed to older adults for a variety of common medical conditions including allergies, hypertension, asthma, and cardiovascular disease appear to negatively affect the aging brain causing immediate but possibly reversible cognitive impairment, including delirium, in older adults.
Commonly used ulcer drugs may offer treatment potential in Alzheimer's disease
In a new study, published in the May issue of Elsevier's Experimental Neurology, scientists at the University of British Columbia have discovered that drugs commonly used to treat ulcers have significant neuroprotective properties, which appear to be enhanced when used in combination with ibuprofen, a widely used anti-inflammatory drug.
New test for mysterious metabolic diseases developed at Stanford/Packard
Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine have devised a much-needed way to monitor and find treatments for a mysterious and devastating group of metabolic diseases that arise from mutations in cells' fuel-burning mechanism.
Recalibrating 'fight or flight'
A Canadian/U.S. research team has reported a novel approach to stimulating recovery from chronic stress disorders. Details of the therapeutic model, which exploits the natural dynamics of the body's "fight or flight" system, are published January 23 in the open-access journal PLoS Computational Biology
Vitamin B does not slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer's
A clinical trial led by Paul S. Aisen, M.D., professor of neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, showed that high-dose vitamin B supplements did not slow the rate of cognitive decline in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease.
Protecting patient privacy the new fashioned way
Protecting patient privacy has been recognized as the duty of health-care providers for about as long as doctors have seen patients. In 1996 that duty became a legal obligation when Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
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