Blocking calcium channels in brain capillaries may enhance blood flow and alleviate early-stage Alzheimer's damage, new study suggests. Study: Inhibiting Ca 2+ channels in Alzheimer’s disease model mice relaxes pericytes, improves cerebral blood flow and reduces immune cell stalling and hypoxia . Image Credit: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock.
com In a recent study published in Nature Neuroscience , researchers used murine Alzheimer's disease models and human brain tissue to investigate whether blocking the voltage-gated calcium channels (CaV) could prevent pericytes, which are cells that line the walls of small blood vessels, from constricting the capillaries and decreasing blood flow to the brain. Background Research on Alzheimer's disease therapies typically focuses on preventing the formation of amyloid β plaques or hyperphosphorylated tau proteins. However, these therapies have not been successful in preventing the cognitive decline that occurs in the disease, perhaps because significant brain damage has occurred by the time these treatments are administered.
Current Alzheimer's disease research has shifted focus to early-stage targets for treatment, which includes cerebral blood flow. Cerebral blood flow is reduced by 45% in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease before the accumulation of amyloid or tau proteins occurs. This reduced blood flow to the brain causes attention and memory deficits and damages the neuronal connections within the brain.
The decreased blood flow is.