Key News in Family Medicine February 05, 2019 (4 of 5)

A study of the differences between healthy brains and those with Alzheimer's disease produced the largest data set of this type. And the data, developed by a team of researchers led by Dr. Richard Unwin of the University of Manchester, are now available free online for all scientists. The team included researchers from Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool and Auckland Universities. This development is an important step forward for scientists conducting research on Alzheimer's disease.

The team also showed that a part of the brain previously thought to be unaffected by the disease, the cerebellum, had a series of modifications that it believed could protect it from damage from Alzheimer's disease. . The study funded by Alzheimer's Research UK is published in the journal Biology of communication aujourd & # 39; hui.

The badysis, which maps the relative levels of more than 5,825 distinct proteins in six regions of the brain, yielded 24,024 data points. The study brain regions included the hippocampus, entorhinal cortex and cingulate gyrus more heavily affected, as well as the motor cortex, sensory cortex and cerebellum less affected. The samples were donated for research by patients from the New Zealand Bank Brain Bank in Auckland.

"This database provides researchers around the world with a tremendous opportunity to advance and track new areas of biology and to develop new treatments, and could help validate observations observed in models of animal or cellular disease in humans." It is very exciting to be able to make this data public so that scientists can access and use this vital information. "

Alzheimer's disease occurs in the hippocampus and spreads through brain pathways. But by examining different parts of this path, the team was able to observe, for the first time, the evolution of Alzheimer's disease in more detail.

"We believe that the changes we are seeing in the affected areas later represent early changes in the disease, present before cell death," said Dr. Unwin. "These represent good new targets for drug developers because we know that it is important to try to intervene early."

During the study, the team discovered new molecules that were not badociated with the disease, which represents more targets for the development of new drugs. They also confirm that researchers studying various pathways, including inflammation, Wnt signaling and metabolic changes in human tissue, are on the right track.

The team identified 129 protein changes present in all areas of the brain studied, including at least 44 non-disease badociated ones. But there are hundreds of others that only change in the beleaguered areas. Dr. Unwin added, "These new protein changes represent other targets for scientists developing new drugs. The cerebellum, thought previously unaffected, has a significant response at the molecular level. Many of these changes do not occur in other regions, and this could imply that this region is actively protecting itself from disease. We will not know until we do more research. "

Rosa Sancho, head of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "By studying thousands of individual proteins, this exciting research has generated a detailed molecular map of the changes that occur in the brain during disease. Alzheimer's This information is freely available online will help researchers navigate the complex and changing brain environment in Alzheimer's disease and identify the processes that could be targeted by future drugs. "

"In the UK, more than half a million people are afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and there is currently no treatment that can slow or prevent the progression of the disease in the brain. Such pioneering research is leading to new breakthroughs that will change people's lives. "