A research consortium, including a 黑料传送门 neuroscientist and his research coordinator, are calling for a consensus on how scientists
identify and evaluate how infections contribute to or cause cognitive impairment and
dementias, including Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.
Writing in , the researchers aim to raise awareness 鈥渢hat microbial infection is a known cause of some types of dementia, and to evaluate the hurdles to be overcome in the development of rapid and accurate鈥� diagnostics to assess infections in people who have, or are at risk of developing, Alzheimer鈥檚.
The implication is that, if scientists and clinicians come to agreement on the role infection plays in Alzheimer鈥檚 and develop a standard methodology to evaluate people with early signs of the disease, patients could鈥攊n the future鈥攂e set 鈥渙n an appropriate antimicrobial therapeutic path with the aim of arresting or reversing disease progression.鈥�
Brian J. Balin, PhD, a professor of Neuroscience and Neuropathology and director of the Center for Chronic Disorders of Aging at 黑料传送门, and colleagues affiliated with Intracell Research Group outline recent scientific
findings that the signature protein in a brain affected by Alzheimer鈥檚 (the A尾 peptide)
plays a notable role in the immune system鈥檚 response to pathogens. The authors suggest
that 鈥渄ownstream failure of this immune response or persistent activation from chronic
infection leads to sustained inflammation and neurodegeneration,鈥� as well as cell
death, which leads to Alzheimer鈥檚. The researchers also contend that genetic risk
factors likely involve infection.
鈥淭here鈥檚 mounting evidence, including in various patient case reports we highlight in our paper, of infectious diseases serving as a primary cause of dementia, which leads us to make this call for consensus,鈥� Balin said. 鈥淭aking the steps we propose could move the assertion that microbes play a causal role in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration鈥攁s seen in Alzheimer鈥檚鈥攆rom controversy to consensus.鈥�
Balin and colleagues say there鈥檚 urgent need among scientists for:
There are numerous options for biosample collection, so that will be a major task
in itself. The researchers suggest methods ranging from cerebrospinal fluid and blood
draws to nasal brush sampling. From there, protocols would need to be established
to extract nucleic acids from the tissue or fluid in order to analyze them for any
infections.
Through the establishment of a consensus detection protocol, experts would identify the most representative tissues or samples for the brain microbiome; determine which extraction method, or combination of methods, is best; and other steps to lead the scientific community toward the ability to have reproducible lab results.
From there, the researchers suggest a pilot study that would test patients with varying stages of dementia and Alzheimer鈥檚, using the consensus detection protocol, with the ultimate goal of treating patients with appropriate antimicrobial medication. To that end, the researchers are labeling the development of the consensus protocol as the Alzheimer鈥檚 Pathobiome Initiative, which they say would require input and support from specialists ranging from neuropathologists and neurologists to microbiologists, molecular biologists, and bioinformatics experts.
鈥淲e want scientists globally to interact more and consolidate efforts that standardize approaches to how we diagnose infections when people have neurocognitive change,鈥� Balin said. 鈥淲e want to know what infections exist and, ultimately, seek to develop better interventions to treat dementias based on infection. This call for consensus gives the scientific community a clearer roadmap to help get us there.鈥�
Lead authors of 鈥淓stablishment of a consensus protocol to explore the brain pathobiome in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease: Research outline and a call for collaboration,鈥� are Richard Lathe of the University of Edinburgh Medical School and , principal and founder of the Intracell Research Group. Collaborators include Christine Hammond, MS, research coordinator in Balin鈥檚 lab.
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