Hevina, known to be involved in neuronal plasticity, can help the elders fight Alzheimer’s.
A Brazilian team of researchers found that a simple molecule that helps slow cognitive decline.
“A Enough It is a well -known molecule, involved in neuronal plasticity. It is naturally secreted by central nervous system cells that support the functioning of neurons and are known as astrocyte, ”says Flávia Alcantara Gomes, head of the UFRJ Institute of Biomedical Sciences Institute of Biomedical Sciences,
“We found that Hevina’s overproduction is able to reverse cognitive deficits in elderly animalsimproving the quality of the synapses of these rodents ”, adds the author of the Aging Cell in February.
Observing public data, researchers found that hevine levels in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients decrease compared to healthy individuals of the same age. Through a recombinant viral vector, scientists then succeeded overexpress Hevina in astrocytes of elderly animals and in transgenic animal models of Alzheimer’s disease.
“Synapse depends on proteins to release a chemical sign from one neuron to another. Proteomic analysis showed that hevine reinforcement in astrocytes regulates different protein groups involved in synapses. We observed a increase in synapses, That is, a greater connection between neurons and, consequently, better cognitive performance ”, summarizes the biochemist Danilo Bilches Medinas.
In addition, scientists realized that this overexpression did not affect the deposition of beta-amiloid plates in the hippocampus.
“To our surprise, although the cognitive deficit was reversed in the Alzheimer’s model animals, there was no change in the contents of the plates. This fact enhances complexity of the disease in terms of a multifactorial mechanism. This is illustrated by elderly people who have signs formation but have no symptoms of the disease, ”says biomedical Felipe Cabral-Miranda.
