New mice research found that Xenon, one of six noble gases, helps to destroy amyloid deposits, one of the proteins that causes Alzheimer’s.
One inert and non -reactive gas It may not seem like an obvious candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, but one suggests that Xenon may be the discovery that we need.
Xenon is one of six noble gases. His name derives from the Greek word to “strange.” In medicine, it has been used as anesthetic since the early 1950s and, more recently, to treat brain injuries. It is also being tested in clinical trials for various diseases, including depression and panic disturbance.
The new study by the University of Washington and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Harvard Medical School University Hospital), in the US, investigated Xenon’s potential to Treat brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
These changes, which can be found in all brains of people with dementia, include Frogs of amyloid and tau proteins. The links between neurons, called synapses, are also lost in Alzheimer’s disease and are these connections between neurons that allow us to think, feel, move and remember.
One last common characteristic found in the brain of people with Alzheimer’s is inflammation. This is the body’s response to an injury or disease and triggers the immune response to heal the damaged fabric.
Usually the inflammation disappears when the tissue is healed. In Alzheimer’s disease, the inflammation does not disappear and triggered immunity responses can damage healthy brain cells.
All of these changes give rise to symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, such as memory loss, confusion and mood swings.
It is not known what causes Alzheimer’s disease, but one of the main theories suggests that amyloid accumulation triggers the process that gives rise to subsequent changes. That’s why, Attack amyloid It seems to be an obvious approach to treating the disease.
Just over two years ago, we got to know the success of one of these treatments, called Lecanemab, in the slowdown of the decline rate.
Increased protein agglomerates and loss of synapses occur over decades, so it is left to know if the direct treatment of a single protein (amyloid or tau) would be able to wage the progression of the disease or have a measurable effect on all characteristic damage.
The brain has various types of cells that work together to support brain function. You neurons These are the cells responsible for everything – walking, talking, thinking and breathing. You astrocytes They provide energy to neurons as well as structural support and protection functions.
Other important cells found in the brain are the microglias. They are immunity cells that help eliminate pathogenic agents and dead cells, among other activities. However, if they are too active, they can cause chronic inflammation in the brain.
Microglia has different states, depending on the environment in which it is, from an inactive state to an active state. The difference between these states can be determined by their appearance and, above all, by the functions they perform. For example, active microglia can help clean accumulated waste such as unwanted proteins, cells and infections.
The scientists of the latter study used mice that have the same brain changes observed in Alzheimer’s disease to investigate the role of microglia. One was identified Specific Active State of Microglia which was associated with inflammation. Scientists gave the Xénon gas mice to inhale, which changed the state of their microglia.
This changed state allowed microglia to surround, swallow and Destroy the amyloid deposits. It also changed the function of these microglia so that they no longer caused inflammation.
Researchers also discovered a reduction in the number and size of amyloid deposits found. All of these changes were associated with the altered state of microglia.
But what about the other changes observed in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s? The study also suggests that xenon inhalation could Reduce brain shrinkage (A common characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease) and lead to increased support for neurons. And in all the mice studied, the markers of the excessive inflammatory response have been reduced.
Thus, in general, the investigation suggests that Xenon inhalation makes microglia active from an active state of Alzheimer’s disease to a pre-Alzheimer state. This pre-disease state of Alzheimer promotes the elimination of amyloid deposits and reduces cell messengers that cause excessive inflammation.
New hope
There are no drugs that target microglia in Alzheimer’s disease and progress was made in the approach of amyloid accumulation. Current drugs designed to reduce amyloid in the brain offer a modest reduction of amyloid deposits and the decline rate.
Will amyloid treatment improve over time, but what about the other changes that occur in the brain, such as tau deposits, brain shrinkage and synapses’ loss?
The new investigation opens the possibility of aiming at a cell type that has the innate potential to affect all these characteristic damage.
It is expected that the Clinical trials in healthy volunteers start this year. If these discoveries remain, Xenon may offer a completely new approach to this disease that destroys the mind. It would be a treatment that does not directly aim at amyloid, but the brain’s immune response to counteract all destructive changes in the disease. Strange things have happened.
