Study links Alzheimer’s to bone marrow dysfunction and weakened immunity
A new study finds Alzheimer’s may impair bone marrow, shedding light on why the immune system struggles to fight the disease.
Key Takeaways
AIA recent study has revealed that Alzheimer’s disease may also affect bone marrow, which could explain the weakened immune response seen in patients.
According to the Independent, the research shows that the disorder’s impact is not limited to the brain, but also disrupts the production of stem cells in the bone marrow, which give rise to blood and immune cells.
Researchers focused on monocytes, a type of immune cell that travels through the bloodstream and transforms into macrophages, which help clear harmful substances.
Experiments on mice and studies involving Alzheimer’s patients found that the disease affects the production of these cells in the bone marrow and disrupts the signaling mechanism that prompts the marrow to send more to the brain.
Results indicated that stem cells in affected mice lose some of their regenerative capacity and prematurely become specialized cells, leading to impaired monocyte production.
Targeted treatments aimed at restoring monocyte production showed improvements in some symptoms and increased migration of macrophages to the brain.
Researchers believe this dysfunction is linked to early depletion of stem cell renewal, suggesting age-related changes in the blood system of Alzheimer’s patients.
They emphasized that most experiments were conducted on mice, and further studies are needed to determine the potential for developing new treatments for humans.