Scientists from CONICET conducted research aimed at evaluating the inflammatory response in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. The study involved participants over 60 years old, who underwent clinical, neuropsychological, and brain imaging evaluations.
According to Lorenzo Campanelli and Pablo Galeano, the study's lead authors, neuroglia secretes cytokines that regulate the inflammatory response. This process is intensified when the blood-brain barrier is disrupted, which is common in Alzheimer’s patients.
The multicentric collaborative work involved professionals from various hospitals in Argentina and Spain, alongside researchers from CONICET and the Leloir Institute Foundation. The study aimed to determine the levels of cytokines and chemokines in the blood of individuals at different clinical stages of the disease, from cognitively healthy individuals to those diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
The most relevant finding of the research is that Alzheimer’s disease can be considered a chronic inflammatory pathology affecting the central nervous system. The importance of cells in nervous tissue, such as astrocytes and microglia, in regulating inflammatory responses in the brain has been emphasized.
Laura Morelli, the study leader, mentions that this discovery opens new therapeutic perspectives, such as the possibility of modulating the inflammatory response to slow the progression of the disease. Through advanced statistical analyses, distinctive inflammatory profiles were identified in each clinical group, which could be crucial for developing more specific treatments in the future.
The results obtained suggest the possibility of exploring therapies that modulate the inflammatory response in Alzheimer’s to halt its progression. During the study, blood was drawn from participants, and the levels of 30 cytokines and chemokines were measured using ultrasensitive techniques.
