As the researchers say, they no longer think of Alzheimer’s primarily as a brain disease. They basically believe it’s a disorder of the immune system in the brain. According to scientists, beta-amyloid is not an abnormally produced protein, but a molecule that is part of the brain’s immune system.
When brain damage occurs or bacteria are present, beta-amyloid is a key factor in the complex immune response. However, due to the striking similarity between the fat molecules that make up both bacteria and brain cell membranes, beta-amyloid cannot tell the difference between invading bacteria and host brain cells and mistakenly attacks the host. This leads to chronic progressive loss of brain function that eventually leads to dementia.
The scientists have expressed confidence that the impact on immune regulation pathways in the brain will lead them to new and effective approaches to treating the disease.
Source: Ferra
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