Analysis of human brain tissue reveals differences in how immune cells behave in the brains with Alzheimer's disease compared to healthy brains, indicating a potential new treatment target.
To delve into the role of microglia in Alzheimer's disease, University of Washington neuroscientists Katherine Prater and Kevin Green, along with colleagues from multiple US institutions, used brain autopsy samples from research donors – 12 who had Alzheimer's and 10 healthy controls – to study the gene activity of microglia.
Overall, the researchers found that microglia clusters in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease were more likely to be those in a pre-inflammatory state. This means they were more likely to produce inflammatory molecules that can damage brain cells and possibly contribute to the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
The microglia types in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease were less likely to be protective, compromising their ability to pull their weight in cleaning up dead cells and waste and promoting healthy brain aging.The scientists also think microglia can change types over time.
"At this point, we can't say whether the microglia are causing the pathology or whether the pathology is causing these microglia to alter their behavior,"This research is still in its early stages, but it advances our understanding of these cells' role in Alzheimer's disease and suggests certain microglia clusters may be targets for new treatments.
"Now that we have determined the genetic profiles of these microglia, we can try to find out exactly what they are doing and hopefully identify ways to change their behaviors that may be contributing to Alzheimer's disease," Prater"If we can determine what they are doing, we might be able to change their behavior with treatments that might prevent or slow this disease."
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