What may be a simple cold for most of us may have more dire consequences for those with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, according to Clive Holmes, Professor of Biological Psychiatry at Southampton.
With a £200,000 grant from the Alzheimer’s Society UK, Professor Holmes and Professor Hugh Perry in the Centre for Biological Sciences performed tests on blood samples taken from patients with Alzheimer’s disease, come of whom had minor infections like the common cold. The results reveal that even minor infections like the common cold play a role in the cognitive decline of those with Alzheimer’s disease.
‘It was previously thought that the brain was immune-privileged and separate from minor bodily infections’ says Clive.’ However, our research shows that, in animals and patients with neurodegenerative diseases, infections trigger systematic inflammation starting in the blood, with the production of a substance called tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-a) tha causes similar, but exaggerated changes in the brain, and finally, neuron death’
In addition to increasing the rate of brain cell death, infections in Alzheimer’s patients causes an exaggeration of their symptoms, such as increased apathy and depression.
The group is now completing a clinical trial with a drug (etanercept) with the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer that blocks the effects of TNF-a and that may have huge implications for the treatment of an estimated 24.3 million people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease in the world today and the 4.6 million new cases diagnosed every year.
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