Immune cells may act as ‘trash compactors’ to fight Alzheimer’s

[Gert van der Hoek]

ay 18 at 12:00 PM

In the battle against Alzheimer’s Disease, inflammation may be an ally, not a foe, a new study has found.

Immune cells in the brain previously blamed for Alzheimer’s actually protect against the disease by corralling the damage-causing amyloid plaques, according to the Yale University study, published Wednesday in the journal Neuron.

The findings suggest that inflammation byproducts of these immune cells, known as microglia, probably don’t cause Alzheimer’s, nor are they as effective as previously believed at “gobbling up” the plaques, both of which have been hypothesized, said Jaime Grutzendler, associate professor of neurology and neuroscience and the study’s lead author.

Rather, he said, the cells act as a physical barrier that encloses the spiky plaques, preventing outward expansion and making them less toxic.

“They’'re sort of like garbage compactors,” he said. “They tightly surround the plaques and make them inert and less damaging…by creating a capsule.”

There is no treatment for Alzheimer’s. But the study suggests that efforts should probably be made to enhance the immune cells’ function rather than suppress it, Grutzendler said. “People have tried to do these treatments in the past to reduce inflammation and it hasn’t worked,” he said. “We think these cells probably need to be left alone.”