Scientists from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville FL, made a breakthrough discovery recently, in the new treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease. The treatment actually removes amyloid plaques from patients’ brains. This was published on the FASEB Journal — the finding shows that when the brain’s immune cells are activated by the interleukin-6 protein (IL-6), they actually remove plaques instead of making them worse or causing them.

The Study

The research was performed in a model of Alzheimer’s disease established in mice.

“Our study highlights the notion that manipulating the brain’s immune response could be translated into clinically tolerated regimens for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases,” said Pritam Das, co-author of the study, from the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL.

The discovery was made almost by accident. The team set out to prove that microgila triggers inflammation — making the disease worse. They figured that microglia would try to remove the plaques but would be unsuccessful. This would cause excessive inflammation as a result. Surprisingly, when the microglia were activated by IL-6 they cleared the plaques from the brains.

Researchers put IL-6 in the brains of newborn mice who didn’t yet develop these plaques, as well as in mice who had pre-existing plaques. Scientists analyzed the effect on IL-6 on brain neuro-inflammation and plaque deposition. In both groups of mice, the presence of IL-6 cleared the plaques. They wanted to find out how it worked. The result — the inflammation induced by IL-6 directed the microglia to express proteins that removed the plaques. Basically, by manipulating the brain’s own immune cells through inflammatory mediators culd lead to new approaches for the treatment of neurdegenerative disease–such as Alzheimer’s disease.

“This model is as close to human pathology as animal models get. These results give us an exciting lead to newer, more effective treatments of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. “This study demonstrates that investment in experimental biology is the best way to approach the challenge posed by an aging population to the cost of health care.”

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