Microglia and Alzheimer's

**Diane** · 23-03-2010, 02:56 AM

A couple-three years ago I became interested in studying up on microglia, wrote a little paper about their role in pain for a Canadian ortho newsletter, read whole books about them. The more I read about them the more I did not like them, but more to the point, the more I realized that the body, even inside the brain, is an ecosystem in balance that can tip this way or that. Microglia (which are not ectodermally derived like the other glia - rather they come from very very early mesodermal stock, like the rest of the immune system) seem like little scavengers, but here, in the case of Alzheimer's, it looks like they can be predatory too.
This news story is about how they are attracted to fractalkine (which is something stressed neurons secrete) and about how plugging up fractalkine receptors (not letting microglia catch the scent) will keep them from heading over to stressed neurons and killing them. The neurons have a better shot at recovering if the microglia are held at bay. I think this sounds quite hopeful. I'm putting it here, Barrett, because I know this is something that you concern yourself about.

**Diane** · 23-03-2010, 03:03 AM

Full text article, free access.

Microglial Cx3cr1 knockout prevents neuron loss in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

A blogpost about it, "Who isn't afraid of Altzheimer's?"

23-03-2010, 02:56 AM	#1
Diane Human Primate Social Groomer and Neuroelastician Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Weyburn Sask. Posts: 19,799 Thanks: 1,538 Thanked 3,350 Times in 1,621 Posts	Microglia and Alzheimer's A couple-three years ago I became interested in studying up on microglia, wrote a little paper about their role in pain for a Canadian ortho newsletter, read whole books about them. The more I read about them the more I did not like them, but more to the point, the more I realized that the body, even inside the brain, is an ecosystem in balance that can tip this way or that. Microglia (which are not ectodermally derived like the other glia - rather they come from very very early mesodermal stock, like the rest of the immune system) seem like little scavengers, but here, in the case of Alzheimer's, it looks like they can be predatory too. This news story is about how they are attracted to fractalkine (which is something stressed neurons secrete) and about how plugging up fractalkine receptors (not letting microglia catch the scent) will keep them from heading over to stressed neurons and killing them. The neurons have a better shot at recovering if the microglia are held at bay. I think this sounds quite hopeful. I'm putting it here, Barrett, because I know this is something that you concern yourself about. __________________ Diane www.dermoneuromodulation.com SensibleSolutionsPhysiotherapy HumanAntiGravitySuit blog Neurotonics PT Teamblog Diane Jacobs.com (personal website) Canadian Physiotherapy Pain Science Division (Archived newsletters) Canadian Physiotherapy Association Pain Science Division Facebook page @PainPhysiosCan WCPT PhysiotherapyPainNetwork on Facebook @WCPTPTPN Neuroscience and Pain Science for Manual PTs Facebook page @dfjpt SomaSimple on Facebook @somasimple "Rene Descartes was very very smart, but as it turned out, he was wrong." ~Lorimer Moseley “Comment is free, but the facts are sacred.” ~Charles Prestwich Scott, nephew of founder and editor (1872-1929) of The Guardian , in a 1921 Centenary editorial “If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you, but if you really make them think, they'll hate you." ~Don Marquis "In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists" ~Roland Barth "Doubt is not a pleasant mental state, but certainty is a ridiculous one."~Voltaire

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