Plaque Busters

A hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease is the build-up of amyloid-beta, a toxic protein, in the brain and within the blood-brain barrier.   Employing a laboratory animal model, Gerhard Leinenga from the University of Queensland Brain Institute (Australia), and colleagues utilized ultrasound therapy combined with micro-bubbles to temporarily open the blood-brain barrier and clear the amyloid beta.  Subsequent testing revealed that the mice demonstrated improvements in memory skills. The study authors submit that: “Our findings suggest that repeated [scanning ultrasound] is useful for removing [amyloid beta] in the mouse brain without causing overt damage, and should be explored further as a noninvasive method with therapeutic potential in [Alzheimer’s Disease].”