- Researchers say they have found evidence that exercise helps produces a hormone called irisin that could prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
- Irisin may enhance neprilysin, which fights the brain-damaging abnormal protein amyloid beta.
- Previous studies have shown irisin injected into the blood stream of mice can make its way into the brain, creating a new pathway for targeted therapies.
A team led by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital says it might have found evidence suggesting irisin-based therapies could help combat Alzheimer’s disease.
The team involved in the latest
Amyloid is an abnormal protein and its presence in organs can eventually damage them.
In their new study, researchers said physical exercise has been shown to reduce amyloid beta deposits in various mouse models of Alzheimer’s, but the mechanisms involved have remained a mystery.
They used the same model to investigate whether exercise-induced increased levels of irisin affects amyloid beta pathology.
To test whether irisin plays a causal role in the link between exercise and reduced amyloid beta, Se Hoon Choi, PhD, and Eun Hee Kim, PhD, both researchers at…
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