A new study led by researchers from VIB and KU Leuven shows that immune cells called microglia can actively promote the formation of plaques in Alzheimer’s disease, challenging the long-standing view that these cells serve only as defenders against plaque buildup. The findings were recently published in PNAS. “Most studies suggest that microglia are there … Read more
Scientists propose that Parkinson’s disease may begin far from the brain, where environmental toxins, microbiome disruption, and intestinal barrier damage interact to ignite the biological cascade leading to neurodegeneration. Environmental insults reduce gut resilience and initiate convergent mechanisms that drive Parkinson’s disease. A lifetime of environmental insults (including Western diets and food additives, nano- and microplastics, … Read more
Announcing a new article publication for BIO Integration journal. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder and the leading cause of dementia worldwide. Microglia, as central nervous system (CNS) resident macrophages, are key to AD pathology. Indeed, microglia aggregation around amyloid-β (Aβ) deposits is an AD hallmark. Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) … Read more
Mattson, M. P. Pathways towards and away from Alzheimer’s disease. Nature 430, 631–639 (2004). Google Scholar Cherry, J. D., Olschowka, J. A. & O’Banion, M. K. Neuroinflammation and M2 microglia: the good, the bad, and the inflamed. J. Neuroinflammation 11, 98 (2014). Google Scholar Heneka, M. T. et al. NLRP3 is activated in Alzheimer’s disease … Read more
A researcher with the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases at UT Health San Antonio has received a two-year, $402,500 grant award from the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund to study how microglia, the brain’s resident immune cells, paradoxically might contribute to the spread of toxic forms of tau protein in the disease. Sarah C. … Read more
As we age, we begin to lose the connections that wire up our brains-and neuroscientists aren’t sure why. It is increasingly clear, though, that the loss of synapses-the flexible and adaptive relay stations central to our brains’ ability to think, learn, and remember-is central to the rise of cognitive decline and dementia in old age. … Read more
By analyzing tissue from patients with Parkinson’s disease, and animal and cellular models of the disease, a research team from the Institut de Neurociències of the UAB has shown that the main immune cells of the brain become reactive and overexpress certain receptors that promote the elimination of dopaminergic neurons, even when these neurons are … Read more
Babies of every species from mouse to human rapidly forget things that happen to them-an effect called infantile amnesia. A type of brain immune cell called microglia might control this type of forgetting in young mice, according to a study published January 20th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Erika Stewart, from Trinity College … Read more
University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have revealed how the popular, low-carb ketogenic diet protects against epilepsy seizures and possibly neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Keto, as the diet is commonly known, has been used to reduce seizures in patients with medication-resistant epilepsy since the 1920s. Doctors, however, have been uncertain exactly … Read more
A new clinical trial reveals that low-dose lithium aspartate is ineffective for long COVID brain fog and fatigue, yet exploratory results suggest that higher doses could hold future potential for relief. Study: Lithium Aspartate for Long COVID Fatigue and Cognitive Dysfunction. Image Credit: Yellow_man / Shutterstock A recent study published in JAMA Network Open investigated the effects … Read more