The possibility that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has a microbial aetiology has been proposed by several researchers. Here, we provide evidence that tissue from the central nervous system (CNS) of AD patients contain fungal cells and hyphae. Fungal material can be detected both intra- and extracellularly using specific antibodies against several fungi. Different brain regions including external frontal cortex, cerebellar hemisphere, entorhinal cortex/hippocampus and choroid plexus contain fungal material, which is absent in brain tissue from control individuals. Analysis of brain sections from ten additional AD patients reveals that all are infected with fungi. Fungal infection is also observed in blood vessels, which may explain the vascular pathology frequently detected in AD patients. Sequencing of fungal DNA extracted from frozen CNS samples identifies several fungal species. Collectively, our findings provide compelling evidence for the existence of fungal infection in the CNS from AD patients, but not in control individuals.
So...yeah. I mean there is not a whole lot of commentary I can officer, other than the fact that this completely overturns the commonly accepted etiology of the disease. And if it is an infection, it can actually be treated. Which is sooo damned cool.
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I think the only comment I can offer is: fuck yeah, medicine!
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Rather reminiscent of the discovery that H. pylori was implicated in most gastric ulcers, completely changing how the problem is treated. Except, of course, Alzheimer's is even more devastating than stomach ulcers.
Presumably, these results will need independent confirmation? Then we "just" have the problem of treating a fungal infection, which isn't always straightforward, but it would a great breakthrough to have an actual treatment for the root cause rather than for the symptoms.
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This is good news, especially if this is confirmed (although I take it that finding fungal tissue in the affected area where there are non in healthy individuals is pretty strong). One less horrible way to die a slow death. Great work for those that discovered this.
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Darmalus wrote:Presumably, we'd also be able to do something preventive as well for those not infected? Or is fungus particularly difficult in that arena?
It being a fungal infection fits with it affecting mostly older people whose immune function is not as strong as in younger people. The genetic links previously found may be susceptibility to such infections. Poorly controlled diabetes is also a risk factor, but diabetics are prone to fungal infections in general so that also makes sense.
Fungal infections are difficult to treat because fungal cells are closer to our cells that our cells are to bacteria or viruses. Thus, what kills/inhibits fungal cells is more likely to cause similar effects in our own cells.
Prevention would be trying to maintain good general health, monitoring immune function, and treating infections early. I'm not aware of any vaccines for fungal infections.
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Think of a fungus as an animal cell with a cell wall like plants. They are physiologically very similar to us, and have the same processes, but their cells are a little tougher as well so they. Hard to Kill puts it mildly, and because their physiology is very much like our own, the medications that kill them tend to be very toxic to us in the same way that anti-parasitic drugs tend to be. Anti-fungal prophylaxis is unlikely to be an option, and to make matters worse, most antifungals dont absorb through the blood-brain barrier very well.
But it is a start. Clinical trials can begin to see if an existing medication will do the job without killing the patient, and if necessary new ones can be found/engineered, or a more efficient delivery method found (like a tailored virus, or nano-particle delivery system).
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This is the best (if true) news I've heard in a long time! Alzheimer's is my biggest fear about aging--I can accept death, but the idea of my mind decaying until everything that makes me who I am is gone, while I watch, horrifies me.
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Alyrium Denryle wrote:Think of a fungus as an animal cell with a cell wall like plants. They are physiologically very similar to us, and have the same processes, but their cells are a little tougher as well so they. Hard to Kill puts it mildly, and because their physiology is very much like our own, the medications that kill them tend to be very toxic to us in the same way that anti-parasitic drugs tend to be. Anti-fungal prophylaxis is unlikely to be an option, and to make matters worse, most antifungals dont absorb through the blood-brain barrier very well.
But it is a start. Clinical trials can begin to see if an existing medication will do the job without killing the patient, and if necessary new ones can be found/engineered, or a more efficient delivery method found (like a tailored virus, or nano-particle delivery system).
There's a thought, are there any viruses that attack fungal cells but not animal cells?
Baltar: "I don't want to miss a moment of the last Battlestar's destruction!"
Centurion: "Sir, I really think you should look at the other Battlestar."
Baltar: "What are you babbling about other...it's impossible!"
Centurion: "No. It is a Battlestar."
Corrax Entry 7:17: So you walk eternally through the shadow realms, standing against evil where all others falter. May your thirst for retribution never quench, may the blood on your sword never dry, and may we never need you again.
Viruses can be very species or other biological subdivision specific. The trouble would be 1) finding one that kills the fungus, 2) does not make us ill, and 3) can be safely and reliably delivered to where its needed.
Those are actually all pretty major tasks.
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If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Alyrium Denryle wrote:Think of a fungus as an animal cell with a cell wall like plants. They are physiologically very similar to us, and have the same processes, but their cells are a little tougher as well so they. Hard to Kill puts it mildly, and because their physiology is very much like our own, the medications that kill them tend to be very toxic to us in the same way that anti-parasitic drugs tend to be. Anti-fungal prophylaxis is unlikely to be an option, and to make matters worse, most antifungals dont absorb through the blood-brain barrier very well.
But it is a start. Clinical trials can begin to see if an existing medication will do the job without killing the patient, and if necessary new ones can be found/engineered, or a more efficient delivery method found (like a tailored virus, or nano-particle delivery system).
There's a thought, are there any viruses that attack fungal cells but not animal cells?
Ooooh yeah. I dont know what they are, but they exist. There is a virus that attacks pretty much every other organism, I am not too worried about finding one that will attack the fungi, or that can be modified slightly to do so.
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Given that fungal cells possess a cell wall and animal cells do not, would it not be possible at least in principle to develop an anti-fungal medication that works by attacking fungal cell walls? Do fungal cell walls provide any protection from the immune system of the host?
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I would think a cell wall would slow down, not totally stop the immune system from destroying the cell. I would suspect right now the immune system simply doesn't see it as a threat and doesn't even act against it.
We already have quite a few anti fungal medications. Generally healthy re : non immunosuppress patients don't need it. They tend to be utilised in patients who had high doses of chemo or HIV patients.
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Borgholio wrote:I would think a cell wall would slow down, not totally stop the immune system from destroying the cell. I would suspect right now the immune system simply doesn't see it as a threat and doesn't even act against it.
Slowing down the immune response's attempts to kill an infecting cell can be extremely effective. If the immune system isn't able to kill the fungi faster than they breed, the fungus 'wins' and can colonize the body at will.
By contrast, becoming outright invisible to the immune system is very difficult, except in blatantly immunocompromised people. And if Alzheimer's only affected immunocompromised people we'd have noticed by now. Instead, it seems as though it affects only old people.
Having lost more than one relative to Alzheimer's, I find this to be amazing news.
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Same here, Gandalf. I lost a great-aunt to it a few months ago. Was the end of a years-long downward slide.
HDS, yeah, from reading that paper, it seems that immune-boosting methods would be part of an approach to tackle AD in patients with these fungal-infection markers.
Even if this paper only directly lights the way towards treating/delaying/reversing/curing a chunk of AD patients, I can take heart in the observation that treatments only tend to get better.
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Though there clearly seems to be a relationship between the two, as the researchers noted it's equally possible that the fungal infection is the result of Alzheimer's rather than the cause. Perhaps the brain deterioration merely provides a good breeding ground for the fungus. If that were the case, we may still have positive outcomes - it's possible the fungus doesn't directly cause Alzheimer's, but it might eventually help point to what the true causes are. We don't know enough yet, though this discovery is certainly a step in the right direction.
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We must be careful, lots of people die from 'Alzheimer's' but don't have that particular disease. The only way I'm aware of the confirm is by autopsy. Plenty of people have vascular dementia, or Parkingson's dementia, or good old dementia but are referred to as 'Alzheimer's'.
That said, a good round of anti fungals to 'rule out' Alzheimer's isn't a bad thing.
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Those other dementias actually do manifest differently, at least some of the time. My mother very clearly suffered from vascular dementia, not Alzheimer's, but outside of medical specialists a lot of people just assume all dementia is the same.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Borgholio wrote:I would think a cell wall would slow down, not totally stop the immune system from destroying the cell. I would suspect right now the immune system simply doesn't see it as a threat and doesn't even act against it.
Slowing down the immune response's attempts to kill an infecting cell can be extremely effective. If the immune system isn't able to kill the fungi faster than they breed, the fungus 'wins' and can colonize the body at will.
By contrast, becoming outright invisible to the immune system is very difficult, except in blatantly immunocompromised people. And if Alzheimer's only affected immunocompromised people we'd have noticed by now. Instead, it seems as though it affects only old people.
Alzheimer's does affect some folks starting in their 40's or 50's, so it isn't necessarily old people alone. Looking at early onset Alzheimer's patients might even be significant in examining the relationship between the disease and fungal infection.
