New research has found that neuroinflammation, or inflammation in the brain, is the primary cause of the proliferation of pathologically misfolded proteins. In addition, this condition could cause cognitive impairmentin patients with Alzheimer's diseasecause. For the first time, researchers have shown in living patients that the activation of immune cells resident in the brain, so-called microglial cells, is not just a consequence of the progression of the disease. Rather, the process represents an important upstream mechanism that is essential for disease development.
How inflammation in the brain affects cognitive function
Given the lack of disease care, this research shows that combination therapy against plaque formation and neuroinflammation could be more effective than pathological treatments. Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the accumulation of amyloid. These are protein aggregates that are located between nerve cells in the brain. The clumps of disrupted protein fibers are also known as neurofibrillary tangles and form within nerve cells. Although studies using cultured cells and laboratory animals have provided ample evidence that activation of microglia drives the proliferation of these fibers in Alzheimer's disease, there has been no evidence of this process in humans. However, the study results suggest that targeting neuroinflammation can be beneficialPeople with early-stage Alzheimer'scould be beneficial. Additionally, this would help reverse the accumulation of pathological tau protein in the brain to ward off dementia.
The researchers found that inflammation in the brain is more common in older people. This was even more pronounced in patients with mild cognitive impairment and those with associated dementia. Bioinformatics analyzes also confirmed that tau propagation depends on microglial activation. This is a key element that links the effects of plaque formation and ultimately cognitive impairment and dementia. Many older people have amyloid plaques in their brains but never develop Alzheimer's disease, the study authors said. The resultsthis studysuggest that it is the interaction between neuroinflammation and plaque formation that triggers tau proliferation and ultimately leads to widespread brain damage and cognitive impairment.
