Scientists in Spain have claimed to have reduced the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in mice using nanoparticles, and they say the technique could be used on humans in the future.
Nanoparticles, invisible to the naked eye, have a diameter of less than 200 nanometers (about 0.25% of the width of a human hair).
These nanoparticles, injected into the body, repair the blood-brain barrier, a region of abundant cells and blood vessels that protect the brain.
In Alzheimer's disease, this barrier is damaged, which allows a toxic protein called amyloid-beta to accumulate in the brain, which is thought to be the root cause of the disease.
Giuseppe Battaglia, professor and head of research at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia in Barcelona, described the technique as "remarkable" and believes it could be used in humans in the next few years.
They said that research suggests that when this barrier is repaired and reactivated, the brain's ability to clear harmful proteins and its function improve.
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