2023-07-25 14:37:00
A research team from the University of Verona found in laboratory tests that espresso can effectively inhibit the aggregation of tau proteins. These proteins play a central role in the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Together with the amyloid beta proteins, tau proteins are crucially involved in processes that lead to pathological changes in the brain. This often happens long before the first symptoms become noticeable. Tau proteins fold incorrectly and clump together into fibrils, elongated fibrous structures.
Mariapina D’Onofrio, leader of the study, and her research team at the University of Verona conducted experiments. They investigated whether certain compounds in espresso might prevent the aggregation of these proteins in vitro. To study this, they prepared espresso from purchased ground beans using a coffee maker.
The effects of caffeine, genistein and the whole espresso extract were clearly observed. With increasing concentration, the tau fibrils became shorter and no longer formed larger fibers. Surprisingly, the entire espresso extract showed the strongest effect, but not a single substance alone.
In addition to these findings, the researchers were able to observe in further experiments that both the espresso extract and the caffeine it contained were able to bind the previously formed tau fibrils.
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#espresso #Alzheimers #Parkinsons
