Posted on 09/15/2021 11:16:39 AM PDT by Red Badger
A likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease offers a significant finding that offers potential new prevention and treatment opportunities for Australia’s second-leading cause of death.
Ground-breaking new Curtin University-led research has discovered a likely cause of Alzheimer’s disease, in a significant finding that offers potential new prevention and treatment opportunities for Australia’s second-leading cause of death.
The study, published in the prestigious PLOS Biology journal and tested on mouse models, identified that a probable cause of Alzheimer’s disease was the leakage from blood into the brain of fat-carrying particles transporting toxic proteins.
Lead investigator Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI) Director Professor John Mamo said his collaborative group of Australian scientists had identified the probable ‘blood-to-brain pathway’ that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease, the most prevalent form of dementia globally.
“While we previously knew that the hallmark feature of people living with Alzheimer’s disease was the progressive accumulation of toxic protein deposits within the brain called beta-amyloid, researchers did not know where the amyloid originated from, or why it deposited in the brain,” Professor Mamo said.
“Our research shows that these toxic protein deposits that form in the brains of people living with Alzheimer’s disease most likely leak into the brain from fat carrying particles in blood, called lipoproteins.
“This ‘blood-to-brain pathway’ is significant because if we can manage the levels in blood of lipoprotein-amyloid and prevent their leakage into the brain, this opens up potential new treatments to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and slow memory loss.”
Building on previous award-winning research that showed beta-amyloid is made outside the brain with lipoproteins, Professor Mamo’s team tested the ground-breaking ‘blood-to-brain pathway’ by genetically engineering mouse models to produce human amyloid-only liver that make lipoproteins.
“As we predicted, the study found that mouse models producing lipoprotein-amyloid in the liver suffered inflammation in the brain, accelerated brain cell death, and memory loss,” Professor Mamo said.
“While further studies are now needed, this finding shows the abundance of these toxic protein deposits in the blood could potentially be addressed through a person’s diet and some drugs that could specifically target lipoprotein amyloid, therefore reducing their risk or slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Alzheimer’s WA Chairman Adjunct Professor Warren Harding said the findings may have a significant global impact for the millions of people living with Alzheimer’s disease.
“Having universities like Curtin working with the pharmaceutical industry is important if we are to tackle this devastating disease,” Mr. Harding said.
“In Australia, approximately 250 people are diagnosed with dementia daily, adding to the staggering half a million Australians who are already living with dementia. Without significant medical advances like the breakthrough Professor Mamo’s team has made, it is estimated that the number of Australians living with dementia will exceed one million by 2058. This has a significant impact on families, carers and communities.”
Professor Mamo and his research team’s previous research in this area was awarded the NHMRC-Marshall and Warren Award for the most innovative and potentially transformative research.
Currently, the team is conducting a clinical trial, the Probucol in Alzheimer’s-clinical trial, which is based on previous findings that a historic cardiovascular agent lowers lipoprotein-amyloid production and supports cognitive performance in mice.
For more on this research, see Protein Made in the Liver May Cause Alzheimer’s Disease in the Brain.
Reference: “Synthesis of human amyloid restricted to liver results in an Alzheimer disease–like neurodegenerative phenotype” by Virginie Lam, Ryusuke Takechi, Mark J. Hackett, Roslyn Francis, Michael Bynevelt, Liesl M. Celliers, Michael Nesbit, Somayra Mamsa, Frank Arfuso, Sukanya Das, Frank Koentgen, Maree Hagan, Lincoln Codd, Kirsty Richardson, Brenton O’Mara, Rainer K. Scharli, Laurence Morandeau, Jonathan Gauntlett, Christopher Leatherday, Jan Boucek, John C. L. Mamo, 14 September 2021, PLOS Biology.
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001358
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001358
Great news!
so, what is the diet recommended?
“In wild-type (WT) C57BL/6J mice, a saturated fatty acid (SFA)-enriched diet was found to strongly stimulate biosynthesis and secretion of TRL-Aβ, concomitant with a reduction in cerebral capillary endothelial tight junction proteins, blood-to-brain extravasation of TRL-Aβ, and marked neurovascular inflammation [6]. In contrast, mice fed unsaturated fatty acid–rich diets had no evidence of exaggerated TRL-Aβ secretion and capillary integrity was unremarkable [6,7]. “
whoops- citation is from the link in the article
https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3001358
This tells me nothing.
What kind of diet, in laymen’s terms.
Avocados and Pork rinds I think.................
unsaturated fat diet it appears? Avoid the saturated fats- if I’m understanding it right-
What? No Pringles?
“The Chicago study reported the strongest evidence of an association. High intake of saturated fat doubled the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and even moderate intake of trans fat increased the risk by 2 to 3 times. [ 20] “
The “culprit” lipoprotein amyloid is, throughout most a persons life, a necessary nutrient in building and maintaining nerve cell development in the brain.
The focus of control should by why it becomes “toxic” later in life. Does nerve cell maintenance and development “slow down” with age but somehow a “switch” is not turned off to slow the production and delivery of the lipoprotein amyloid?
It “leaks” from the blood? Or is it really the blood is delivering more than the brain needs?
Now then? What cause the slowdown in the rebuilding of nerve cells in the brain, such that the brain does not need so much lipoprotein amyloid? Is that a physical problem in the brain, or does it come with a slow down of the mental demands the person makes on the brain?
No commentary on the article itself but PLOS is definitely not considered a ‘prestigious journal’ in the industry. Its an accepted nonfringe one to be sure but some snootier researchers actually think of it as a bit of a joke or journal of last resort. Having said that a lot of decent stuff and people publish there. Its just a little funny seeing that line in the article if you are familiar with the field. Maybe the writer was having a bit of a laugh.
or it’s a pre-marketing campaign for the new trillion dollar drug...
I guess it’s sort of like ‘self-publishing’ and calling yourself a ‘published author’..................
You just made that up, didn’t you?! :)
I guess Joe Biden wasn’t included in the trial. Either that, or he was one of the subjects who took the placebo.
Starchy....................
Yeah, melt some chedder on those pork rinds add hot sauce and I’m in.
I dip in sour cream too.
They’re just going develop another drug doctors can kill you with.
My confidence in government run medicine is down the crap hole.
LOL!...........................
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