Discovery of B2M protein accumulation in blood causing memory loss

According to a study published in the journal Nature Medicine on July 6, a protein molecule called B2M that accumulates in the blood over time and age may be linked to causing intellectual decline in humans.

(Source: AFP)

B2M, a protein involved in the immune system, accumulates predominantly in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of older people.

Through research on white mice in the laboratory, scientists at the University of California in San Francisco, USA, found that preventing the increase in the number of B2M molecules helps increase the ability to perceive and remember events.

Scientist Saul Villeda, one of the authors of the study, said the discovery helps identify two ways to significantly reverse age-related memory loss.

One is to supplement the rejuvenating molecules in the blood and the other is to prevent the increase of aging molecules such as B2M.

Last year, Villeda was involved in another study that found that injecting blood from immature mice improved the cognitive and memory abilities of older mice.

Older mice injected with blood from healthy mice became more agile and had better memories. However, at that time, the research team could not explain the cause of this phenomenon.

Through the second study, the research team this time suggested that B2M could help explain why the blood of young mice can increase memory ability. That is because injecting B2M reduces the cognitive ability, memory and neuron development of the experimental mice, and when stopping the injection of this protein immediately gives the opposite results.

According to the plan, the research team will continue to deploy the next step, which is to develop a new molecule that can either prevent the development of B2M protein or help eliminate this protein from the blood of the elderly.

Age is associated with a rapid decline in memory function and a slower regeneration of the brain's message-receiving neurons. This is also a leading risk factor for dementias such as Alzheimer's.

Therefore, with the above findings, American scientists hope to soon find a treatment method to help restore memory effectively./.

According to Vietnam+