A preclinical study out of the University of Miami has reversed one of the earliest measurable changes in Alzheimer's disease: the loss of blood flow to the brain. Reduced cerebral perfusion tends to appear well before memory symptoms become obvious, which is part of why it interests researchers looking for targets that can be hit early rather than after neurons have already died.
The work comes from doctoral students Supriya Chakraborty and Zeynab Tabrizi in the Department of Biology within the College of Arts and Sciences. Chakraborty came to the field through immunology, having switched from entomology after a college instructor in India introduced him to the immune cells that defend the body against bacteria and parasites. Tabrizi trained in immunology and neuroscience in Iran, where her research examined the origins of conditions such as schizophrenia and autism before she chose academia over industry.
Why blood flow matters: the brain is metabolically demanding and depends on a steady supply of oxygen and glucose delivered through a dense network of small vessels. When that supply falters, the tissue is stressed long before the clinical picture of dementia emerges. Restoring it in a laboratory model suggests the damage is not simply a one-way consequence of disease progression, which is encouraging for anyone hoping to intervene in the years before symptoms take hold. Alzheimer's affects more than 7 million older adults in the United States, so even incremental progress on early mechanisms carries weight.
The usual caution applies to preclinical findings. Results obtained in the lab frequently fail to translate to people, and a great deal of additional work stands between this stage and any therapy a patient might receive. Still, the researchers frame their line of investigation as a possible route toward more effective Alzheimer's treatments.