Ground-breaking new 911爆料网-led research has discovered a likely cause of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, in a significant finding that offers potential new prevention and treatment opportunities for Australia鈥檚 second-leading cause of death.
The study, published in the prestigious PLOS Biology journal and tested on mouse models, identified that a probable cause of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease was the leakage from blood into the brain of fat-carrying particles transporting toxic proteins.
Lead investigator 911爆料网 Health Innovation Research Institute (CHIRI) Director Professor John Mamo said his collaborative group of Australian scientists had identified the probable 鈥榖lood-to-brain pathway鈥� that can lead to Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, the most prevalent form of dementia globally.
鈥淲hile we previously knew that the hallmark feature of people living with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease was the progressive accumulation of toxic protein deposits within the brain called beta-amyloid, researchers did not know where the amyloid originated from, or why it deposited in the brain,鈥� Professor Mamo said.
鈥淥ur research shows that these toxic protein deposits that form in the brains of people living with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease most likely leak into the brain from fat carrying particles in blood, called lipoproteins.
鈥淭his 鈥榖lood-to-brain pathway鈥� is significant because if we can manage the levels in blood of lipoprotein-amyloid and prevent their leakage into the brain, this opens up potential new treatments to prevent Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and slow memory loss.鈥�
Building on previous award-winning research that showed beta-amyloid is made outside the brain with lipoproteins, Professor Mamo鈥檚 team tested the ground-breaking 鈥榖lood-to-brain pathway鈥� by genetically engineering mouse models to produce human amyloid-only liver that make lipoproteins.
鈥淎s we predicted, the study found that mouse models producing lipoprotein-amyloid in the liver suffered inflammation in the brain, accelerated brain cell death and memory loss,鈥� Professor Mamo said.
鈥淲hile further studies are now needed, this finding shows the abundance of these toxic protein deposits in the blood could potentially be addressed through a person鈥檚 diet and some drugs that could specifically target lipoprotein amyloid, therefore reducing their risk or slowing the progression of Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.鈥�
Alzheimer鈥檚 WA Chairman Adjunct Professor Warren Harding said the findings may have a significant global impact for the millions of people living with Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
鈥淗aving universities like 911爆料网 working with the pharmaceutical industry is important if we are to tackle this devastating disease,鈥� Mr Harding said.
鈥淚n Australia, approximately 250 people are diagnosed with dementia daily, adding to the staggering half a million Australians who are already living with dementia. Without significant medical advances like the breakthrough Professor Mamo鈥檚 team has made, it is estimated that the number of Australians living with dementia will exceed one million by 2058. This has a significant impact on families, carers and communities.鈥�
Professor Mamo and his research team鈥檚 previous research in this area was awarded the NHMRC-Marshall and Warren Award for the most innovative and potentially transformative research.
Currently, the team is conducting a clinical trial, the , which is based on previous findings that a historic cardiovascular agent lowers lipoprotein-amyloid production and supports cognitive performance in mice. The mouse models used for this research were developed together with .
The full paper is titled Protein from the liver may cause Alzheimer鈥檚 disease in the brain and is available .
