Role of Brain's Immune Cell in Alzheimer's Disease

Role of brain's immune cells - microglia is investigated for its association to a gene mutation found in Alzheimer's disease as per a study at the Indiana University School of Medicine, published in the journal Science Advances.

It was found that on deleting the specific gene called ABI3 in mouse models had significantly increased amyloid-beta plaque accumulation in the brain and decreased the amount of microglia around the plaques.

‘Role of brain�s immune cells � microglia is investigated for its association to a gene mutation found in Alzheimer�s disease according to a study.’

The present study was also conducted in more than 85,000 people among which fewer than half were Alzheimer's patients with the mutation in the ABI3 gene (responsible for increased the risk of late-onset Alzheimer's).

"Our study provides the first in vivo functional evidence that the loss of ABI3 function may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by affecting amyloid beta accumulation and neuroinflammation." "This study can provide further insight into understanding the key functions of microglia contributing to the disease and help identify new therapeutic targets," says Hande Karahan, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in medical and molecular genetics.

Source: Medindia