Tag: Alzheimer's

This month, a group of researchers published an annual report on the clinical trials that are testing drugs for Alzheimer’s disease. Overall, they reported an increase in the number of trials, with 158 drugs investigated across 192 trials [1]. A growing problem The projections regarding the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease are merciless. While in 2017,...

A new study shows that the overexpression of somatostatin (SST), a neuropeptide produced in neurons and acting mostly on microglia, lowers inflammation and amyloid β burden, improving cognitive abilities in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s. Drugs affecting this pathway are already available [1]. The unusual suspect In Alzheimer’s disease, many signaling pathways in the brain...

The pro-Alzheimer's allele APOE4 makes hippocampal neurons in mice smaller and hyperexcitable. This effect, which resembles epilepsy and accelerated aging, can be mitigated by manipulating a neuronal protein [1]. Before symptoms arise Alzheimer's disease begins long before symptoms appear, building silently for decades. The single strongest genetic risk factor for the common, late-onset form of...

Researchers have discovered a potential treatment for post-operative delirium, which accelerates cognitive decline in older people. A common problem with long-term effects Roughly a quarter of older people suffer from delirium after surgery [1], which rises to around half if the surgery is particularly invasive or high-risk [2]. This increases the length of hospital stays...

A new study has found a negative association between unprocessed meat consumption and cognitive decline in carriers of the “pro-Alzheimer’s” APOE ε4 allele. This counterintuitive connection might have something to do with human evolution [1]. The meat connection The APOE gene, which produces apolipoprotein E, a protein central to lipid transport in the brain and...

Researchers publishing in Cell Reports Medicine have described the development of a lipid nanoparticle (LNP) that delivers mRNA to neurons in order to stop the formation of tau aggregates and fight Alzheimer's disease. Tau and amyloids Amyloid beta deposition between neurons and tau aggregation within neurons are both hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, and evidence suggests...