Scientists have long known that cognitive decline as we get older and specific age-related diseases including Alzheimer’s are linked to inflammation, but they are still uncovering precisely why and how this is the case. — AFP pic
When the hormone was blocked in older mice, they were able to perform as well as more youthful rodents in tests of their memory and navigation. The hormone, prostaglandin E2 , “is a major regulator of all types of inflammation, both good and bad, and its effect depends on the receptor that is activated,” the study’s senior author Katrin Andreasson told AFP.
They administered to mice two experimental compounds that can block the EP2 receptor and found it reversed the metabolic problems seen in older macrophages — restoring their more youthful behaviour and preventing destructive inflammatory activity. Andreasson said the findings, while still preliminary, could have implications for a broad range of conditions.
And neither of the experimental compounds have been tested in humans, so it is unclear whether they could be toxic, although no harmful side effects were seen in the mice tested.
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