Researchers here report on preliminary evidence that antibodies binding to TREM2 can enhance the ability of the immune cells known as microglia to clear out debris and metabolic waste in brain, particularly the amyloid-β plaques thought to contribute to the progression of the condition.
With the growing aging population, Alzheimer’s disease is among the greatest public health challenges of the 21st century. It affects an estimated 5.6 million people age 65 and older in the U.S. alone, a number that could rise as high as 14 million by 2050 without effective treatment and prevention. Image credit: U.S. Army graphic via Health.mil (Public Domain)
Given the unremitting record of failure to date for amyloid-β clearance approaches to produce material benefits in patients, it is something of a question as to whether more and better clearance is what is needed right now. From a reductionist point of view, amyloid-β aggregates should indeed be removed, as their presence is a material difference between old and young brains.
That doesn't mean that amyloid-β is necessarily the primary driver of the disease state, however. Perhaps its contribution will only become clear once the other pathologies of Alzheimer's disease have been addressed: neuroinflammation, tau aggregates, and vascular dysfunction.
Link: https://www.dzne.de/en/news/press-releases/press/immune-cells-against-alzheimers/
Source: Fight Aging!