Protein linked to heart health, disease a potential therapeutic target for dementia

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis • June 21, 2021June 28, 2022

Mice prone to developing Alzheimer’s-like brain damage have potentially damaging activated immune cells in their brains (above). Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that high levels of a normal protein associated with reduced heart disease also protect against Alzheimer’s-like damage in mice, opening up new approaches to slowing or stopping brain damage and cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer’s.

By the time people with Alzheimer’s disease start exhibiting difficulty remembering and thinking, the disease has been developing in their brains for two decades or more, and their brain tissue already has sustained damage. As the disease progresses, the damage accumulates, and their symptoms worsen.