News

Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center researchers in New Orleans have shown that TREM2, an innate immune receptor protein essential to the clearing of waste from the brain and retina, is diminished in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), identifying a key molecular pathway and possible therapeutic target. Loss of function of TREM2…

The buildup of amyloid beta plaques in Alzheimer’s disease is believed to result from patients’ inability to break down the protein. But a new study from Lund University, Sweden, showed that overproduction of amyloid beta is more common than previously thought, giving a more nuanced picture of Alzheimer’s pathology. A small number of Alzheimer’s…

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, were able to show for the first time the progressive stages of Alzheimer’s disease in healthy adults and patients with Alzheimer’s using PET scans. This shows positron emission tomography (PET) scans can be used as diagnostic and staging tools in patients suffering from…

Researchers in Germany have identified a potential brain inflammation biomarker in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with early and asymptomatic Alzheimer’s disease. This biomarker may help clinicians identify Alzheimer’s at its transition stage from preclinical disease to cognitive impairment and dementia progression. The research, titled “sTREM2 cerebrospinal fluid levels are a potential biomarker…

New York’s leading experts in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia care, formerly known as the Alzheimer’s Association, New York City Chapter, have unveiled their new name, CaringKind: The Heart of Alzheimer’s Caregiving. The New York City chapter broke away from the national organization in December and is now…

Researchers have successfully reduced the levels of inflammatory cells in the central nervous system linked to inflammation using pharmacological drugs. This decrease translated into improved memory, cognition, and neuronal survival in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. The research paper, “Eliminating microglia in Alzheimer’s mice prevents neuronal loss without modulating amyloid-β pathology,” was…

Results from the ADvance trial, a Phase 2 study investigating the safety of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), lead researchers to believe the treatment is safe and well-tolerated in patients. DBS targets a specific brain structure involved in memory pathways. The research paper, “Bilateral deep…

Scientists from the Center for Nanoparticle Research at South Korea’s Institute for Basic Science (IBS), in collaboration with researchers at Seoul National University, have developed mitochondria-targeting ceria nanoparticles, a potential therapeutic candidate for mitochondrial oxidative stress and seen as one of the possible pathogenic pathways involved in the onset of Alzheimer’s…

A collaboration between researchers at two universities in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in Canada has resulted in the discovery of an innovative, non-invasive diagnostic agent for Alzheimer’s disease, where before such a definitive diagnosis would have been possible only from a brain autopsy. However, new findings by research teams led by…

Researchers have discovered that a genetic elimination of peripheral immune cell populations leads to a more rapid development of amyloid brain plaques (which are present in Alzheimer’s patients), worsening of neuroinflammation, and dysfunction of microglial activity. The study, “The adaptive immune system restrains Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis by modulating microglial function,”…