2024-01-07 03:04:18
A study reinforced the theory that Alzheimer’s might be related to chronic periodontitis (Illustrative Image Infobae)
According to the World Health Organization, more than 55 million people live with dementia in the world and this number is increasing rapidly. It is estimated that by 2050, the number of people who will develop this disease will triple to reach 139 million. Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia in older adults, which is why experts consider that we are facing an emerging pandemic of this condition.
In the absence of treatments to cure it, early detection remains one of the main therapeutic approaches. The last significant discovery in this field, according to a study, has to do with periodontitis, known as gum disease. This discovery supports a growing hypothesis in the scientific community in recent years: Alzheimer’s disease is not only a neurodegenerative disease, but is linked to an infection.
Can Alzheimer’s be caused by bacteria? Dr. Norberto Raschella, head of the Neurology Service at the Austral University Hospital, responded to Infobae: “In recent years, with the advancement of genetics, the study of inflammation as an additional primary or secondary process involved in the genesis of neurodegenerative pathologies such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, to name the most frequent. The role of different etiopathogenic mechanisms involved in neurodegeneration is considered, such as, for example, the accumulation of misfolded proteins, such as amyloid beta, phosphorylated tau protein, and other phenomena such as the production of free radicals, molecules that exert an effect toxic to cells.
The research team identified toxic enzymes called gingipains secreted by the bacteria in the brains of patients and that produce lesions similar to Alzheimer’s (Getty)
And he explained that for some years it has been known that, in the case of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases, oral health plays an important role in avoiding damage to the inner layer of the arteries, called endothelium, and that the presence of bacterial plaque in the gums it produces invasion of different germs into the bloodstream, with the consequent inflammatory cascade on the endothelium of the arteries.
“In the case of the study in question, molecules corresponding to the Porphyromonas gingivalis (PG) germ called gingipains have been detected in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s, and in the cerebrospinal fluid, which exert a deleterious effect (NdelR: harmful) on the neurons, glial cells and vascular endothelium. Laboratory studies carried out in mice, to which broad-spectrum antibiotics have been administered, demonstrated the decrease in the accumulation of these proteins (gingipains) in anatomical areas involved in Alzheimer’s disease.
The study that supports this theory was published in the prestigious journal Science Advances. In it, the group of researchers led by the microbiologist from the University of Louisville (Kentucky, United States) Jan Potempa was the one that discovered the bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis (responsible for chronic periodontitis) in the brains of deceased patients with Alzheimer’s. Experiments were carried out with mice in which they caused oral infections with the pathogen that reached the brain and produced the amyloid beta peptide.
Do these studies mean that a bacteria is responsible for Alzheimer’s disease?
Dr. Raschella answered: “The answer is no. It is simply one more mechanism among many others involved in degenerative processes that warn regarding the role of inflammation in these diseases and another possible therapeutic target, which has promoted different research studies where anti-inflammatories and different antibiotics would participate as potentially favorable.
Dr. Calandri expressed that a lot has been learned in recent years regarding Alzheimer’s but there are still blind spots regarding the chain of events that must occur for neurodegeneration to occur (Illustrative Image Infobae)
For his part, Dr. Ismael Calandri, (MN 133008), neurologist at the Fleni Cognitive Neurology Service, when asked if Alzheimer’s might be an infection caused by a bacteria, responded to Infobae: “No, Alzheimer’s is not an infectious disease. It is a neurodegenerative disease in which proteins produced by our cells are deposited but with a change in shape (which we call abnormal folding) that causes them to evade the traditional mechanisms with which they are removed from where they are not needed.
And he completed the explanation of the genesis of Alzheimer’s: “These deposits generate toxicity on the complex of neurons and their auxiliary cells in the brain. It is produced by the deposition of two proteins (an extracellular one called beta amyloid and an intracellular one called tau). For this to occur, a cascade of events is necessary, such as abnormalities in protein folding, or in their production, or in their removal or in other compensatory mechanisms.”
The doctor indicated that although a lot has been learned in recent years regarding all these processes, there are still blind spots regarding the chain of events that must occur for this process called “neurodegeneration” to occur. “One part of these points still being explored is the role of neuroinflammation,” the expert noted.
Dr. Stephen Dominy, another of the authors of the aforementioned study, explained: “Now, for the first time, we have solid evidence linking the pathogen P. gingivalis and Alzheimer’s.”
It is known that, in the case of cerebrovascular and cardiovascular diseases, oral health plays an important role in preventing damage to the inner layer of the arteries. Now it is studied in relation to Alzheimer’s (Illustrative Image Infobae)
The group of scientists also identified toxic enzymes called gingipains secreted by the bacteria in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. However, they also found these toxins in the brains of people who were not diagnosed with this neurodegenerative disease.
“Our hypothesis is that P. gingivalis infection acts in the pathogenesis of the disease through the secretion of gingipains to promote neuronal damage,” said the researcher. This discovery is important because finding these bacteria in people who were never diagnosed with Alzheimer’s might suggest that they might have developed the disease if they had lived longer.
After all these findings, the study developed a gingipain inhibitor, but it did not work. Therefore, the next step will be the search for a new molecule that has the property of inhibiting the toxin and that does not have significant adverse effects.
The study authors clarified that brain infection with P. gingivalis is not the result of poor dental care following the onset of dementia or a consequence of the disease, but rather “an early event that may explain the pathology found in middle-aged people.” age before cognitive decline.
Oral health care should include adequate hygiene and brushing and periodic visits to the dentist (Illustrative Image Infobae)
Dr. Raschella pointed out that the aforementioned bacteria is common in dental plaque, “up to 25% of healthy patients have it, and therefore, periodic control of oral health by the dentist is recommended, in order to reduce the risk of infection, which is beneficial, but it cannot be established that this alone would prevent Alzheimer’s because there are various etiopathological mechanisms involved, including many that are still unknown. It would be imprudent to announce that Alzheimer’s disease is due to this mechanism and that its development is prevented in this way,” highlighted the neurologist.
In coincidence, Dr. Calandri pointed out: “There is no causal association, therefore, we cannot know if preventing or combating this infection might affect the occurrence or not of Alzheimer’s disease. We do know that adequate oral health is closely related to vascular events and systemic infections, things that can undoubtedly contribute to long-term cognitive performance. Oral health care should include adequate hygiene and brushing, with frequent visits to the dentist,” he recommended.
Regarding the study itself, he considered that it summarizes different experimental tests, “some in mice, others in cell cultures and very few in human brains that may contribute to associating this oral bacteria with immune processes in the brain that may be associated with Alzheimer disease. In no way is it causal evidence that this bacteria in the mouth of human beings increases the risk, much less that it is the cause of the neurodegenerative process, it is only evidence that indicates to scientists that they must look at this more closely to fill these gaps. throughout the chain, a chain of which we know many links that are not associated with the bacteria.”
We will have to wait for the discoveries of future research on this hypothesis of the genesis of Alzheimer’s, which for some scientists is a new path to follow in search of unraveling the mechanisms of the disease.
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