Finding the right medicine for Alzheimer’s disease is often a process of trial and error. Many patients receive drugs to manage depression, anxiety, or agitation, yet the results vary greatly.
Scientists have long wanted a way to know in advance which treatment is most likely to help each person.
A team from Johns Hopkins Medicine believes laboratory-grown mini brain tissues could eventually provide that answer. Their research was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association and points toward a future in which treatment decisions may be guided by living models made from a patient’s own cells.
The researchers started with an ordinary blood sample. They reprogrammed blood cells so they behaved like stem cells, allowing them to grow into different kinds of tissue. Using these cells, they created hundreds of miniature hindbrain organoids from both Alzheimer’s patients and healthy volunteers.
Although these organoids are only a few millimeters across, they contain living nerve cells that organize themselves into structures similar to parts of the human brain. This allows scientists to observe disease processes in a way that is impossible inside a living patient.
The team focused on escitalopram, a widely prescribed antidepressant that belongs to the SSRI family. These medicines are commonly used because emotional and behavioral symptoms affect almost everyone with Alzheimer’s disease during the course of illness.
When the medicine was added to the organoids, not every sample responded in the same way. Some showed healthier serotonin signaling and improved communication between nerve cells, while others hardly changed. This finding suggests that the biological differences between patients may explain why treatment results are so variable.
The scientists also examined extracellular vesicles released by the organoids. These microscopic particles act like tiny delivery packages, carrying proteins and molecular messages between cells. Because they reflect what is happening inside brain tissue, they could become valuable clues about disease activity.
Several proteins involved in healthy nerve signaling were reduced in organoids grown from Alzheimer’s patients. After treatment, some of these proteins increased in responsive organoids, providing another possible way to measure whether a medicine is working at the molecular level.
The researchers hope future organoids will include blood-vessel-like structures and immune cells, making them even closer to real human brain tissue. They also hope extracellular vesicles could eventually be developed into a simple liquid biopsy that helps diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, determine its stage, and identify disease subtypes.
This study is an important step toward personalized medicine for Alzheimer’s disease. The research shows that patient-derived brain organoids may help explain why some people respond to medicines while others do not.
However, the work was performed in laboratory-grown tissue rather than living patients, so much more research and clinical testing are needed before the approach can be used in hospitals.
If future studies confirm these findings, brain organoids and extracellular vesicles could become valuable tools for selecting treatments, diagnosing disease earlier, and monitoring disease progression.
If you care about Alzheimer’s disease, please read studies about the protective power of dietary antioxidants against Alzheimer’s, and eating habits linked to higher Alzheimer’s risk.
For more health information, please see recent studies that oral cannabis extract may help reduce Alzheimer’s symptoms, and Vitamin E may help prevent Parkinson’s disease.
Source: Johns Hopkins Medicine.
