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   Techtimes    
      
   HEALTH    
      
   New Alzheimer's Disease Theory: Infections May Trigger Build-Up Of Amyloid   
   Plaques In The Brain    
      
   By Catherine Cabral-Isabedra | May 27, 2016 09:02 AM EDT    
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   Alzheimer's    
      
      
      
   A new study has found that amyloid-beta plaques, which cause Alzheimer's   
   disease, is triggered by an ensuing infection. Researchers theorized that the   
   pathogen passes through the blood-brain barrier. Shown here is an illustration   
   of Alzheimer's disease    
   progression. (Photo : National Institute on Aging/National Institutes of   
   Health via NIH | Flickr)    
   Amyloid plaques in the brain form due to infections, a new Alzheimer's disease   
   (AD) study has found.    
      
   Researchers from Harvard University have found that amyloid-beta brain   
   plaques, which cause Alzheimer's disease, are secondary to the body's immune   
   response to an invading pathogen.    
      
   Their finding is important in understanding disease prevention, progression   
   and treatment.    
      
   The progressive neurodegenerative disease is a challenge to diagnose, as   
   verification of is only through an autopsy of the brain. Alzheimer's disease   
   occurs as the brain accumulates amyloid-beta plaques and tau proteins tangle.   
   As a result, nerve cell    
   connections are lost, which eventually kills them and leads to loss of memory   
   and decline of cognitive function.    
      
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   Massachusetts General Hospital Genetic and Aging Research Unit researcher   
   Robert Moir said that what they have found in their study suggests that   
   Alzheimer's disease is a result of the brain interpreting that it is being   
   attacked by pathogens. He    
   clarified, however, that further studies must be carried out to identify if an   
   infection indeed exists.    
      
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   "It does appear likely that the inflammatory pathways of the innate immune   
   system could be potential treatment targets," said Moir, who is also an   
   assistant professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School.    
      
      
   Early Study vs. Present Study    
      
   In Moir's past study, he and Massachusetts General Hospital Genetic and Aging   
   Research Unit Director Rudolph Tanzi, have found that the pathogen growth is   
   somewhat inhibited by amyloid-beta, which led them to think that the plaques   
   in Alzheimer's could    
   be fragments of an immune response.    
      
   For their present study, the researchers presented salmonella to mice brains   
   that can and cannot extract the amyloid-beta. They noted that mice that did   
   not express the amyloid-beta died from the infection, while the ones that   
   produced the substance    
   lived longer. Researchers have conducted the same experiment on roundworms and   
   human brain cells in culture and arrived at the same results.    
      
   The scientists believe that the bacteria cross the blood-brain barrier, which   
   deteriorate as one ages, and goes to the hippocampal region where the disease   
   begins.    
      
   While many of the past and current studies focused on the inhibition of   
   amyloid-beta buildup, the proponents of the study suggest that future   
   Alzheimer's studies should look at the brain's immune response and the ways to   
   mitigate it, which they believe    
   is a more effective treatment of AD.    
      
   "While our data all involve experimental models, the important next step is to   
   search for microbes in the brains of Alzheimer's patients that may have   
   triggered amyloid deposition as a protective response, later leading to nerve   
   cell death and dementia,"    
   said Tanzi, who is also a Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard. "If we   
   can identify the culprits — be they bacteria, viruses, or yeast — we may   
   be able to therapeutically target them for primary prevention of the disease."    
      
   An earlier study suggested loss of Y chromosome testing can help diagnose and   
   prevent disease progression of Alzheimer's in males.    
      
   The study is published in Science Translational Medicine on May 25.    
      
   Photo: National Institute on Aging/National Institutes of Health | Flickr    
      
      
      
   http://www.techtimes.com/articles/161325/20160527/new-alzheimers   
   disease-theory-infections-may-trigger-build-up-of-amyloid-plaque   
   -in-the-brain.htm   
      
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