NEW YORK, Mar 16, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. scientists said a protein
associated with Alzheimer's builds up in brain cells at an increased rate if
body temperature drops, such as during anesthesia.
The researchers suggest decreasing the temperature in the brain -- as happens
when someone is anesthetized or experiences hypothermia -- is linked to the
formation of proteins in the brain cells that have been associated with
Alzheimer's disease.
"We hope that this research will initiate an interest in taking precautions to
limit the impact of anesthesia on the disease," Emmanuel Planel of Columbia
University Medical Center in New York said in a statement.
For the study, the researchers compared two groups of mice that make the
abnormal tau protein that accumulates in Alzheimer's patients -- one group was
anesthetized and the other group was not. A week after the anesthesia, the
anesthetized group had more of the tau protein clumps than the group that wasn't
anesthetized.
Further, the build up of tau proteins occurred faster in those mice showing
advanced signs of the disease.
The findings are published in the Federation of American Societies for
Experimental Biology Journal.
URL: www.upi.com
Copyright 2009 by United Press International