Every year about 10 million cases of Alzheimer's are diagnosed in the world. Its prevalence is so great that, according to the WHO, it is one of the main causes of disability, dependency and mortality. However, the medical community still does not know what its cause is, despite scientific efforts and advances.
Now, a group of Spanish scientists led by neuroscientist Amaia Arranz have made an important advance in research into the disease by introducing 100,000 human neurons into the brains of mice to try to find out what happens during the disease process.
By introducing human neurons, scientists have managed to identify how the MEG3 gene induces neuronal destruction, a genetically programmed cell death, which is also present in cancer.
Researchers have observed how neurons die and have managed to remedy this neuronal death with two oral drugs, which are already used against leukemia and melanoma.
The progress of the study was published this Thursday in the renowned journal Science, which supports its discovery. Arranz's team introduced up to 100,000 human neurons into the mouse brains, a significant number considering that a mouse brain is the size of a pea, weighs half a gram, and contains about 70 million neurons.
It should be noted that two years ago the United States already authorized the use of aducanumab to eliminate amyloid proteins present in the brain. However, the European Medicines Agency rejected its approval because it did not find sufficient evidence of its effectiveness.
The researchers of the study consider that there is a specifically human vulnerability to the disease, a reason that could explain the ineffectiveness of the latest treatments revealed. There are also other scientists who hesitate to continue focusing on amyloid plaques, since they do not consider them to be the cause of Alzheimer's.
Be that as it may, this discovery allows progress in the development of more effective treatments to end the disease and offers alternatives to all those affected.
