In recent years, the increasing number of research has supported an alarming hypothesis: Alzheimer’s disease is not just a disease This is an infectionS
While the exact mechanisms of this infection are something that researchers are still trying to isolateNumerous studies suggest deadly Alzheimer’s Goes far beyond What we thought.
One such study, published in 2019, suggested what one of the most convenient leaders of the bacterial culprit behind Alzheimer’s so far, and it comes from a little unexpected quarter: gum disease.
In a document led by senior author Yang Summa, a microbiologist at the University of Louisville, the researchers report the discovery of Porphyromonas gingivalis – The pathogen behind the chronic periodontitis (AKA gum disease) – in the brain of patients of the deceased Alzheimer’s.
530 Bacteria for Alzheimer’s Disease 1
Gingipains of P. Gingivalis (red) Among the neurons in the brain of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease. (Cortexim)
This was not the first time the two factors were connected, but the researchers went further.
In individual experiments with mice, oral infection with the pathogen led to colonization of the brain from bacteria, along with increased production of amyloid beta (AP), sticky proteins, often related to that of Alzheimer’s.
The research team coordinated by the startup Pharma Startup Cortaxyme, who was the co-founder of the first author Stephen Domini, does not claim to have found final evidence of Alzheimer’s cause and effect.
But it was clear that they thought we had a strong investigation line here.
“Infectious agents were involved in the development and progression of Alzheimer’s disease before, but the evidence of the causal relationship was not convincing,” said Domini at that time.
“Now, for the first time we have solid evidence connecting the intracellular, gram-negative pathogen, P. Gingivalisand the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s. “
In addition, the team identifies toxic enzymes called gingipans secreted by the bacteria in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients, which correlate with two separate markers of the disease: Tau protein and a protein label called Rumitin.
But it is even more captivating that the team identifies these toxic gingipans in the brain of dead people who have never been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
This is important because while while P. Gingivalis And the disease has been associated before, it has never been known – simply said – whether the gum disease causes Alzheimer’s, or whether dementia leads to poor oral care.
The fact that low levels of gingipan are obvious even in people who have never been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s can be a smoking gun – assuming that they may have developed the condition if they have lived longer.
“Our identification of gingipain antigens in the brain of individuals with AD and also with AD pathology, but without diagnosis dementia does not claim that brain infection with P. Gingivalis It is not the result of poor dental care after the onset of dementia or a consequence of the disease at a late stage, but it is an early event that may explain the pathology found in middle -aged individuals before the cognitive decline, “the authors explained in their document.
In addition, a compound formulated by the company called COR388 showed in mice experiments that it could reduce the bacterial load to established P. Gingivalis Brain infection while reducing the production of amyloid-beta and neuroinflama.
We will have to wait and see what future research will reveal for this connection, but the research community is cautiously optimistic.
“Medicines aimed at toxic proteins of bacteria have so far shown benefit only in mice, but without new treatments for more than 15 years, it is important to test as many approaches to deal with diseases such as Alzheimer,” the Chief Scientific officer David Reynolds of Alzheimer’s Research commented in a statement.
The results are reported in Science is progressingS
A larger version of this story was published in January 2019.