Scientists from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) have demonstrated that leakage appears to occur between the blood vessels and the brain, as a result of which the plaques develop and the disease manifests itself.
This alternative approach to Alzheimer’s opens up new prospects for developing a treatment which could slow disease progress.
Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by an increasing deposit of the amyloid-â protein in the brain. The accumulation of this protein results in plaques, deposits which settle in the brain cells responsible for memory and observation. How the plaques develop is the key in the search for a treatment.
Under normal circumstances blood vessels transport the excess amyloid-â protein away from the brain. However, the protein has a harmful effect on blood vessel walls. This effect is perhaps strengthened as a result of ageing, which causes the protein to be removed less efficiently. The blood vessel loses strength and in its immediate vicinity the accumulation of the amyloid-â protein increases and plaques develop.
A treatment which promotes the removal of the amyloid-â protein from the brain could significantly impede the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.