Researchers from the University of Toulouse, in collaboration with Cornell University (USA) have discovered a new avenue of research for the Alzheimer’s disease. Their work, published in the journal nature neuroscience, show that reduced blood flow in the small vessels of the brain impairs memory functions. Reviving blood flow would undoubtedly delay the disease.
In question, white blood cells stuck in the vessels
This study is the culmination of 10 years of work. At the origin of this slowing down of blood flow with dramatic consequences, white blood cells which stick inside the capillaries (the smallest blood vessels in the brain). Each blocked capillary results in decreased blood flow in several downstream vessels, resulting in an overall decrease of approximately 20% in cerebral blood flow.
To counter this effect on memory mice, the researchers gave the rodents an antibody that interfered with the adhesion of white blood cells to capillary walls, causing new cerebral blood flow in the blocked capillaries. “Memory function improved within hours, even in older mice with more advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease” explain Cornell researchers.
Scientists show their optimism because this new line of research “could be a complete game-changer for people with Alzheimer’s disease.”
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