Blood transfusion opens new hope in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

According to experts, this will block the assembly of beta-amyloid peptides, which in part cause damage, is produced in the brain. Alzheimer's disease is the world's main form of dementia, neurodegenerative disease, and so far has no cure.

This disease is caused by the accumulation of abnormal protein aggregates in the brain, it develops slowly over many years.

 Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia.

Specifically, Tau proteins and beta amyloid peptides are primarily responsible for causing this disease. The beta-amyloid accumulates and forms amyloid plaques on the outside of the nerve cell (extracellular).

Amyloid plaques block transmission between nerves, and Tau proteins were found to be deformed, present in such large quantities that these neurons die.

There are about 50 million cases worldwide of Alzheimer's disease, with the majority being people over the age of 65. Along with that, the disease is often detected too late.

When the first symptoms appear, such as memory loss, language disorders, mood disorders, disorientation, etc., the brain is already damaged.

Although there is no specific treatment to stop or even slow the disease, researchers have found a way to disrupt beta-amyloid protein aggregation and deposition in the brain by exchanging blood - blood transfusion.

Currently, the treatments for the disease being tested are ineffective, the researchers say, mainly because the therapeutic molecules are blocked by the blood-brain barrier, which separates the brain from the blood circulation and acts as a filter.

Successful experiment on mice

So, instead of trying to get rid of the amyloid plaques already in the brain, the researchers focused on preventing the peptides from clumping together. The researchers tested it on mice in a different way.

Their idea was to give a "new" amount of blood to infected animals and observe the growth of amyloid plaques.

"The blood vessels in the brain are considered the body's most impermeable barrier," said Akihiko Urayama, first author of the study and now at the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease in Houston, US. realized that this is a barrier and a very specialized interface between the brain and the circulatory system."

They therefore injected diseased mice with "normal blood from wild-type mice with the same genetic background," while also taking some from them to perform a blood exchange.

After multiple blood transfusions, they found that the growth of amyloid plaques decreased by 40-80% and their growth rate also decreased over time. In addition, spatial memory performance in aged mice also improved. The experts added: "The exact mechanism by which blood metabolism reduces amyloid pathology and improves memory is currently unknown. clear".

However, they suggest that a decrease in beta-amyloids in the blood then redistributes brain contents into the bloodstream. This marks a new hope in treatments for this dementia.