The team tested whether removing one of the four main proteins in runner’s blood would matter, and found that if clusterin was removed, its anti-inflammatory effects disappeared. And when mice designed to have a type of brain inflammation, or some version of Alzheimer’s, were injected with clusterin, it reduced their brain inflammation.
In the only part of the study involving humans, 20 military veterans with a pre-dementia condition called mild cognitive impairment who had participated in a six-month exercise program were found to have high levels of clusterin in their blood.
Kaci Fairchild, associate director of the Department of Veterans Affairs Sierra Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, and an author of the new study, said the veterans, ranging in age from 50 to 89, exercised three times a week, involving they combined cardio. with strength training.
dr. Fairchild said that in results not yet published, in addition to increased clusterin, the veterans did better on tests of word memory and story recall.
“Across the board, veterans had improvements in cognitive function, largely related to learning and memory,” said Dr. Fairchild. She noted that some people have disabilities or limitations that prevent them from exercising, and she said she hoped that “the implications of this clusterin are that we can develop a drug that targets this protein for individuals who were unable to participate in physical activity.”
In the brain, clusterin binds to cells that line blood vessels, cells that become inflamed in Alzheimer’s disease, said Dr. Wyss-Coray, suggesting a potential drug could bind to those cells and “mimicking its anti-inflammatory effects.”
Still, experts studying Alzheimer’s disease and neuroinflammation said much more research is needed before therapies can be developed.