A new study revealed unexpected causes of Alzheimer’s disease, which was believed to be amyloid plaques as the main cause of the disease, which gradually leads to memory loss.
The Al-Rai daily quoting scientists from the University of Pittsburgh College of Medicine concluded, during their study published in the journal “Nature Medicine”, that stellate brain cells known as “stellate cells” play an important role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, according to the “scitech daily” medical website.
By testing the blood of more than 1,000 older adults without a cognitive disorder, the researchers found that those who had a combination of amyloid and blood markers for abnormal astrocyte activation would develop Alzheimer’s symptoms in the future, a finding critical to drug development. with the aim of stopping the progression of the disease.
“Our study argues that testing for the presence of brain amyloid along with blood biomarkers of astrocyte interaction is the optimal screening for identifying patients at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease,” said senior author Tharic Pasquale, assistant professor of psychiatry and neuroscience.
“This places astrocytes at the center as a key regulator of disease progression, challenging the notion that amyloid alone is sufficient to trigger Alzheimer’s disease,” Pascual added.
Astrocytes are specialized cells abundant in brain tissue, and just like other members of the glial cells (immune cells in the brain), astrocytes support neurons by supplying them with nutrients and oxygen and protecting them from pathogens.
