Scientists Remove Amyloid Plaques From Brains Of Live Animals With Alzheimer's Disease
Thursday, October 15, 2009 - 09:28
in Health & Medicine
A breakthrough discovery in mice may lead to a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease that actually removes amyloid plaques -- considered a hallmark of the disease -- from patients' brains. This discovery is based on the unexpected finding that when the brain's immune cells (microglia) are activated by the interleukin-6 protein (IL-6), they actually remove plaques instead of causing them or making them worse.