LOS ANGELES: Curbing brain inflammation may help people treat and prevent Alzheimer’s disease, according to a landmark new study. Researchers at the University of Southampton in England conducted a series of experiments showing a chemical that reduces neuro-inflammation may have the potential to protect against the memory and behavioural changes associated with the disease that affects roughly 5.3 million Americans.
“We have shown a way into tackling the disease and now it is time to progress this to the clinical setup as soon as possible,” said Dr Diego Gomez-Nicola, the lead author of the study. An overactive immune system– can result in chronic inflammation, which previous research has linked to Alzheimer’s! These new findings makes it increasingly apparent that inflammation is not a result of Alzheimer’s as much as a key driver of the disease.
In one experiment, the researchers looked at the tissue of both healthy brains and the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. The brains of people with Alzheimer’s had higher levels of microglia, or immune cells, which suggested brain inflammation.
The molecules that regulate the number of microglia became more active as the severity of the Alzheimer’s increased, resulting in even higher levels of inflammation.
In another experiment, researchers showed that the chemical known as GW2580 reduced memory loss and behavioural problems in mice with an Alzheimer’s-like condition.