Is Alzheimer’s a yeast infection? Are the plaques the *cure*?

The Corante blog is taking a second look at brain research that could turn Alzheimer’s thinking on its head:

A recent paper in PLoS One makes the case that beta-amyloid, the protein that has been fingered for decades as a major player in Alzheimer’s disease, is actually part of the body’s antimicrobial defenses.

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When this latest team checked the amyloid protein’s activity, it turns out to be pretty active. The prototype peptide in this area, LL-37, appears to have a broader spectrum of activity, but A-beta beats it against several organisms, most notably the yeast C. albicans. And as it turns out, brain homogenates from Alzheimer’s patients are much more active against yeast in vitro than samples from age-matched controls without the disease.

Check the comments on Corante for more fascinating conjecture – it’s also possible Alzheimer’s is related to diabetes, or (even more speculatively) that demon Toxoplasmosis, the brain parasite you get from kitty litter.

Tags: neurology