Alzheimer’s disease is often detected late because reliable signs usually appear only after the brain has already been affected.
For that reason, researchers are exploring new ways to detect the disease at an earlier stage.
According to researchers from Cedars-Sinai, the retina of the eye may provide important clues about what is happening in the brain.
The retina is directly connected to the nervous system and can be examined non-invasively.
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This makes it an interesting potential gateway for monitoring disease processes that would otherwise only be visible through advanced brain scans.
Bacteria and inflammation
In the study, published in Nature Communications, the researchers examined retinal tissue from 104 people with varying levels of cognitive function, according to Cedars-Sinai.
They found higher levels of the bacterium Chlamydia pneumoniae in people with Alzheimer’s disease than in individuals with normal cognition.
The greater the presence of the bacterium, the clearer the signs of brain damage and cognitive decline.
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According to the researchers, the bacterium was also more common in people with the APOE4 gene variant, which is already known to increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Laboratory experiments
The bacterium is not only present but may also worsen the disease.
In laboratory experiments involving nerve cells and mice, the infection was shown to increase inflammation in the tissue, damage nerve cells, and promote the formation of amyloid beta, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease.
According to Cedars-Sinai, the findings suggest that treatments targeting chronic infection and inflammation could become a new avenue for future research.
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At the same time, the researchers emphasize that more studies are needed before the results can be applied in healthcare.
Sources: News-Medical, and Nature Communications.
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