Scientists shed light on blood flow problems in dementia

Press release issued 6 December 2010
Scientists in Bristol have uncovered some of the processes responsible for the blood flow problems connected with Alzheimer‘s disease. Their findings could see existing drugs used for leaky blood vessels trialled as potential Alzheimer’s treatments.
Researchers at the University of Bristol’s Dementia Research Group supported by the Alzheimer‘s Research Trust , the UK’s leading dementia research charity, investigated problems with the function of blood vessels in the brains of people with Alzheimer‘s ’ a known feature of the disease.

Scientists already know that in Alzheimer?s, blood vessels in the brain do not adjust properly in response to changes in brain activity and blood pressure. The vessels also become too permeable, allowing potentially harmful substances to leak into the brain from the bloodstream.

In a new series of studies, PhD student Emma Ashby, Professor Seth Love and Dr Patrick Kehoe found marked abnormalities in the system that helps to regulate blood vessel function in people with Alzheimer?s. Their findings are published in the journals Brain Research and Neurobiology of Aging .

The team looked at an enzyme that helps to control blood flow and the leakiness of blood vessel walls, and found its activity was increased in the brains of people with Alzheimer‘s. Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia, which currently affects more than 4,000 people in Bristol alone.