Alzheimer’s disease is widely known as a brain disorder, but new research shows it may also impact the entire body.
Scientists from Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital have used fruit flies to study how Alzheimer’s disease affects other organs, not just the brain. Their findings were recently published in the journal Neuron.
The study focused on two proteins linked to Alzheimer’s: Aβ42 and Tau. These proteins form clumps in the brain, called plaques and tangles, which are a hallmark of the disease. However, the researchers wanted to know what happens when these proteins are found only in brain cells and how that affects the rest of the body.
To explore this, they created fruit flies that produce either Aβ42 or Tau only in their neurons, the cells that make up the brain and nervous system. This way, the scientists could study the disease’s effects without interfering with the fly’s development.
They then built a detailed map called the Alzheimer’s Disease Fly Cell Atlas, which shows what genes are active in 219 different types of cells in both the head and body of the flies.
The results were surprising. When Aβ42 was active in the fly’s brain, it mostly affected the nervous system. In particular, sensory neurons that help with smell, vision, and hearing were highly affected.
Researchers even found specific olfactory (smell-related) neurons that were harmed by Aβ42, which is important because a loss of smell can be an early warning sign of Alzheimer’s in humans.
Tau, on the other hand, caused more problems in other parts of the body. It changed how the flies digested food, processed fat, and even reduced their ability to reproduce.
These changes are similar to what happens during aging, suggesting that Tau might speed up the aging process in tissues outside the brain. The team also noticed that the communication between the brain and the rest of the body was disrupted in flies with Tau expression.
Dr. Hongjie Li, one of the senior researchers, explained that this study gives us a clearer picture of how Alzheimer’s disease might harm the whole body. By showing that brain-related proteins can affect distant organs, the findings open the door to finding new warning signs and treatment options that go beyond the brain.
The Alzheimer’s Disease Fly Cell Atlas is now a valuable resource for researchers around the world. It allows scientists to further explore how Alzheimer’s spreads throughout the body and how different organs respond. This kind of knowledge could lead to better understanding of the disease and more effective therapies in the future.
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.
The study is published in Neuron.
