MONTREAL, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Canadian researchers said Friday they have uncovered a natural defense mechanism to Alzheimer's disease.
Not surprisingly, it involves stem cells -- those derived from bone marrow.
In Alzheimer's patients, plaque forms in the brain, but the brain's resident immune cells, called microglia, can't fight off the substance. The plaque can then kill off the brain's neurons, or nerve cells.
However, microglia harvested from bone marrow stem cells do appear capable of defeating the plague, said researchers from the Faculty of Medicine at Université Laval and the research centre at Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec, Canada.
The researchers noted that, in transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer's, the bone marrow-derived microglia were specifically drawn to the amyloid proteins that form plague in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.
"The discovery ... is an important step towards a new therapeutic approach to Alzheimer's disease," states Rémi Quirion, scientific director of Canada's Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA). "It is the perfect example of the potential social benefits of investing in health research," he said.
The Canadian scientists said that 280,000 Canadians aged 65 and over have Alzheimer's.
