Boala Alzheimer și alte forme de demență.
73 de articoleResearch identifies Arc, a native brain protein, as a mediator of toxic tau spread between neurons via extracellular vesicles in Alzheimer's disease. While Arc enables sick neurons to survive longer by expelling tau aggregates, it also paradoxically promotes pathology transmission to healthy cells, suggesting the extracellular space as a potential therapeutic intervention point.
This review examines the relationship between loneliness and social isolation as major risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline, with particular attention to sex differences. The authors discuss mechanisms linking isolation to AD pathology and propose approaches for developing prevention and treatment strategies based on understanding these associations.
Researchers developed a tablet-based software application designed to slow cognitive and communicative decline in individuals with Alzheimer's disease for home use. A randomized controlled trial with 32 participants (mild, moderate, and severe stages) compared outcomes between those using the application plus pharmacological treatment versus pharmacological treatment alone.
This health economics study examines costs associated with using neuroimaging (PET and MRI) to identify Alzheimer's disease patients most likely to benefit from lecanemab treatment over three years. The authors highlight a critical concern: approximately 78% of patients with mild cognitive impairment do not progress to dementia, making prophylactic treatment in all MCI patients costly and ethically problematic; they identify combined fluorodeoxyglucose and MRI imaging as the most cost-efficient approach at $177,000 per positive outcome with adjusted lecanemab pricing.
This study examined whether plasma levels of ergothioneine and its metabolite hercynine correlate with resistance to cognitive decline in older dementia-free individuals with Alzheimer's amyloid pathology. Higher ergothioneine metabolism (HC:ET ratio) attenuated the relationship between amyloid biomarkers and cognitive decline, suggesting ergothioneine's potential neuroprotective role warrants further investigation.
This systematic review of five studies involving over 1.6 million participants examines how microvascular complications from diabetes—particularly neuropathy and nephropathy—increase dementia risk, with hazard ratios ranging from 1.12-1.26. Poor glycemic control (HbA1c) and its variability independently contribute to cognitive decline, with each 1% increase in HbA1c associated with an 8% increased dementia risk.
This study investigates potential mechanisms linking thyroid dysfunction (hyper- and hypothyroidism) to Alzheimer's disease risk by measuring serum biomarkers including Aβ42, BDNF, acetylcholinesterase, and calcium in older adults. Results showed elevated Aβ42 and BDNF levels in both thyroid disorder groups compared to controls, with more pronounced elevations in hypothyroid patients, suggesting thyroid dysfunction may influence cognitive decline pathways.
Researchers identified 14 blood metabolites associated with cognitive function and 22 linked to brain structure changes in cognitively normal middle-aged adults, with lifestyle and gut microbiota playing significant roles in shaping these metabolite profiles. Ergothioneine emerged as a promising metabolite marker connected to cognition, potentially offering early identification targets for dementia prevention.
Researchers identified a previously unknown type of programmed cell death called karyoptosis, characterized by nuclear disintegration and driven by interaction between p38 MAP kinase and LaminB1 proteins. This mechanism was observed in approximately 35% of neurons in the frontal cortex of Alzheimer's disease patients, potentially offering new insights into neuronal loss in the disease.
A study of 822 deceased older adults found that stable psychological characteristics, particularly neuroticism and loneliness, were associated with different molecular patterns of Alzheimer's disease pathology in brain tissue. Purpose in life showed inverse associations with certain Alzheimer's subtypes, suggesting psychological factors may influence the biological heterogeneity of the disease beyond standard neuropathological markers.
This study analyzed 373 mild cognitive impairment participants to investigate how type 2 diabetes modifies the association between baseline plasma IL-8 levels and cognitive decline, amyloid pathology, and neurodegeneration. Results showed that in the T2DM group, higher IL-8 was associated with slower clinical decline, lower hippocampal amyloid burden, and reduced brain atrophy, suggesting IL-8's role is context-dependent and may reflect an adaptive immune response under metabolic stress.
This preclinical study demonstrates that D-chiro-inositol, a natural compound with insulin-mimetic properties, reduces amyloid-beta production and promotes neuroprotection in cultured neurons and transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's disease. The compound enhances insulin receptor signaling, modulates tau-related kinase activity, and shifts immune responses in the brain toward less inflammatory states, suggesting potential therapeutic mechanisms worth further investigation.
This systematic review examines whether reduced awareness of cognitive decline in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) serves as a predictor of conversion to Alzheimer's disease or dementia. The study synthesized evidence from 11 peer-reviewed longitudinal studies across major databases to clarify whether diminished insight into cognitive abilities in early stages could identify at-risk individuals who need timely intervention.
This study investigates why women develop Alzheimer's disease at higher rates by examining how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect brain structure and cognitive function differently in men versus women across stages of cognitive decline. Results show women reported more ACEs, and these experiences were associated with reduced brain volumes in cognitively unimpaired men and memory/executive function deficits in women with mild cognitive impairment, suggesting psychosocial factors may contribute to sex differences in dementia risk.
Speech-based digital markers offer a scalable, non-invasive approach to predicting cognitive decline and complementing blood biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease, though large multilingual longitudinal datasets are lacking. The SpeechDx study is a 3-year multinational observational research program (n=2006) designed to develop and validate speech-based tools for early risk assessment and personalized intervention in preclinical populations.
This scoping review examined literature (2000-2022) on driving safety and restrictions for patients with Alzheimer's disease and cognitive decline, finding no sufficiently sensitive psychometric tests to reliably assess driving competence in older adults with cognitive deficits. The authors conclude there is insufficient robust evidence to recommend either continuation or cessation of driving for patients with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia, while noting driving restrictions can significantly impact patients and families, and that legal regulations on this issue are sparse globally
This review examines how tau protein misfolding and accumulation impair blood-brain barrier integrity and vascular function in Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies, while also exploring how cerebrovascular dysfunction promotes tau pathology. The authors highlight epigenetic and epitranscriptomic mechanisms regulating cerebrovascular integrity and tauopathy progression, with implications for therapeutic intervention.
This study examined how cognitive reserve—the brain's ability to maintain function despite Alzheimer's pathology—differs between typical and limbic-predominant subtypes of Alzheimer's disease using neuroimaging data from over 500 participants. Results showed that higher cognitive reserve predicted slower cognitive decline, with typical Alzheimer's subtype showing faster reserve deterioration than the limbic-predominant form, highlighting the importance of subtype-specific analyses in understanding disease progression.
