It is known that blood provides the brain’s energy supply in the form of glucose and oxygen.
Previous studies have suggested the first change in Alzheimer’s disease is a decrease in cerebral blood flow.
In a recent study from University College London, scientists found that the contraction of cells wrapped around blood vessels could contribute to cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s.
This could explain why reduced blood flow to the brain associated with early Alzheimer’s.
The findings are published in the journal Science. The lead author is Dr. Ross Nortley.
The team looked at the cells wrapped around blood vessels that have the ability to contract and regulate blood flow.
They examined blood vessels in Alzheimer’s-affected human brain tissue and in mice.
The results showed that they were squeezed by the cell pericytes.
The team then applied amyloid beta protein to healthy brain tissue and found that the blood vessels were squeezed as a result.
They found the squeezing was severe enough to halve blood flow. This is comparable to the decrease in blood flow found in the brain affected by Alzheimer’s.
The team says these findings identify the underlying mechanism behind the reduction of brain blood flow in Alzheimer’s disease for the first time.
They hope the results can help develop new possible treatments in the early phase of Alzheimer’s disease.
The findings also raise the question of what fraction of the damage is a consequence of the decrease in energy supply that amyloid produces by constricting the brain’s finer blood vessels.
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