Title |
Dietary exposure to an environmental toxin triggers neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid deposits in the brain
|
---|---|
Published in |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, January 2016
|
DOI | 10.1098/rspb.2015.2397 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Paul Alan Cox, David A. Davis, Deborah C. Mash, James S. Metcalf, Sandra Anne Banack |
Abstract |
Neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and β-amyloid plaques are the neurological hallmarks of both Alzheimer's disease and an unusual paralytic illness suffered by Chamorro villagers on the Pacific island of Guam. Many Chamorros with the disease suffer dementia, and in some villages one-quarter of the adults perished from the disease. Like Alzheimer's, the causal factors of Guamanian amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism dementia complex (ALS/PDC) are poorly understood. In replicated experiments, we found that chronic dietary exposure to a cyanobacterial toxin present in the traditional Chamorro diet, β-N-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA), triggers the formation of both NFT and β-amyloid deposits similar in structure and density to those found in brain tissues of Chamorros who died with ALS/PDC. Vervets (Chlorocebus sabaeus) fed for 140 days with BMAA-dosed fruit developed NFT and sparse β-amyloid deposits in the brain. Co-administration of the dietary amino acid l-serine with l-BMAA significantly reduced the density of NFT. These findings indicate that while chronic exposure to the environmental toxin BMAA can trigger neurodegeneration in vulnerable individuals, increasing the amount of l-serine in the diet can reduce the risk. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 11 | 21% |
Australia | 8 | 15% |
United Kingdom | 3 | 6% |
Brazil | 1 | 2% |
New Zealand | 1 | 2% |
Saudi Arabia | 1 | 2% |
Unknown | 28 | 53% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 38 | 72% |
Scientists | 9 | 17% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 3 | 6% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 3 | 6% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Switzerland | 1 | <1% |
France | 1 | <1% |
Australia | 1 | <1% |
Brazil | 1 | <1% |
United Kingdom | 1 | <1% |
United States | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 224 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 44 | 19% |
Student > Master | 40 | 17% |
Student > Bachelor | 33 | 14% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 26 | 11% |
Other | 10 | 4% |
Other | 32 | 14% |
Unknown | 45 | 20% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 36 | 16% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 35 | 15% |
Neuroscience | 24 | 10% |
Chemistry | 20 | 9% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 18 | 8% |
Other | 46 | 20% |
Unknown | 51 | 22% |