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Alzheimer's disease may be related to a bacterium that causes an oral infection. The link, which seems unlikely, is the conclusion of the study by an international group of scientists. The research paves the way for new research badociating infectious agents with a neurodegenerative disease, which affects about 1.2 million Brazilians.
Scientists badyzed the role of a bacterium, Porphyromonas gingivalis, in the development of Alzheimer's disease. Located in the mouth, the bacteria proliferates due to poor hygiene and can cause periodontitis, a disease that affects the tissues around the teeth. The research, sponsored by the American pharmaceutical company Cortexyme, has helped identify enzymes related to this bacterium in the brains of patients who died of Alzheimer's disease. He also found genetic material related to Porphyromonas gingivalis in living patients.
But only the presence of the bacteria in the brains of patients would not be sufficient to conclude to a dementia. Indeed, for various reasons, such as a poor diet or difficulties in maintaining oral health, patients with Alzheimer's disease might develop the bacteria, not the other way around.
The researchers therefore used mice to demonstrate that infection with Porphyromonas gingivalis resulted in increased production of beta-amyloid, a protein that accumulates in the brains of patients with Parkinson's disease. ; Alzheimer's. The specialists then infected the animals with the bacteria and then applied a drug capable of reducing the bacterial load.
They found that the drug was able to block the production of beta-amyloid and protect the neurons of the hippocampus of animals, the region of the brain responsible for memory. The study was published in the journal Science Advances. "The main conclusion is that there are many more toxic bacterial enzymes in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's disease. The toxic activity of enzymes can be blocked with a drug ", said the study's lead author, Stephen Dominy, co-founder of Cortexyme.
Rogério Panizzutti, neuroscientist at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), research integrates into a context in which scientists are interested the relationship between Alzheimer's and infectious agents. . "The challenge on the ground is to see if there is a cause-and-effect relationship between a bacterial or viral infection and Alzheimer's disease." This study goes forward using animal models, in which it may suggest "But we can not yet be sure that there will be a causality in the man." New studies, he says, are needed.
According to Daniel Ciampi, a neurologist at Hospital Sírio-Libanês, several factors are likely to be involved and the study is "another clue to thinking about the disease". Although it is not possible to conclude that oral infections are at the origin of Alzheimer's disease, maintaining hygiene is far from futile. "One of the pillars of treatment is good oral health – it's like removing an inflammatory stress from the room – and the patient can have a partial improvement." The information is taken from the newspaper O Estado of S. Paulo
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