'Swift change' in Alzheimer's protein

Posted on 2008-08-28 20:00:00 in Alzheimer's Disease |

A rapid change in the Alzheimer's disease protein has been noted and described in humans, it has been revealed.

According to researchers at the Washington University in St Louis, this is the first time scientists have been able to depict the hour-by-hour changes in the amount of amyloid beta within a human brain.

The results, which are published in Science, suggest that this is an important step forward in the clinical research of neurological disorders.

Researchers on the project were surprised to learn that, rather than a physical trauma causing an increase in the protein levels, it was actually the recovery process that appeared to accelerate this production.

Co-first author David Brody said: "We can't at this point rule out a very early spike in amyloid right after a brain injury."

In related news, a virus known to affect potatoes has been found to bear a "striking resemblance" to the amyloid beta protein, Medical News Today reports.
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