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Toxic protein groups, believed to be responsible for the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease, reach different areas of the brain where they accumulate over the decades, according to a recently published study, reports AFP, taken over by Agerpres.
The scientific article, published in the journal Science Advances, is the first to rely on data from research in human subjects to quantify the speed of molecular processes leading to this neurodegenerative disease and could influence how treatments are designed.
At the same time, the findings contradict the theory that protein clusters form in one place and trigger a chain reaction in other areas, a pattern seen in mice. Such a spread may occur, but is not the main cause, according to researchers.
“Two elements made this work possible,” Georg Meisl, a chemist at Cambridge University and one of the main authors of the article, told AFP. “First, the study of very detailed data from PET scans (a method of examination by medical imaging, no.) And the various data sets put together, but also the mathematical models that have been developed in the last ten years,” he said. .
The researchers used 400 brain samples taken after the death of people with Alzheimer’s and 100 PET tests performed on living people diagnosed with the disease to monitor the accumulation of your protein. The latter, along with another protein called beta-amyloid, accumulates and causes the death of brain cells, as well as a contraction of the brain. Thus, it leads especially to memory loss and inability to perform daily tasks.
This disease is one of the main public health problems and affects over 40 million people worldwide.
The scientists also found that it took five years for the crowds to double. An “encouraging” figure, according to Georg Meisl, because it demonstrates that neurons have the ability to fight these accumulations. “Perhaps, if we manage to improve them a little, we can significantly delay the onset of the serious disease,” he said.
Alzheimer’s disease is classified according to the “Braak stages”, and scientists have found that it takes about 35 years to move from stage 3, where mild symptoms appear, to stage 6, the most advanced.
Congestion is growing exponentially, which explains “why it takes so long for the disease to develop and why people’s condition tends to get worse quickly,” according to Georg Meisl.
The team plans to apply the same methods to study traumatic brain injury and fronto-temporal dementia, in which your protein also plays a role.
“We hope that this study and others will guide the development of future treatments for your protein so that they are more likely to slow down the disease and help people with dementia,” said Sara Imarisio of Alzheimer’s Research UK. , quoted in a statement.
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