Massive breakthrough in fight against Alzheimer’s as man found to have ‘natural immunity’ to disease in ultra-rare case
A MAN has been found to have some immunity to Alzheimer’s disease.
The “extraordinary case” from Colombia staved off symptoms of the memory-robbing disease for 20 years, despite carrying a gene that made him particularly at risk.
He carried the Paia mutation — an inherited gene that usually causes dementia in your 40s and leads to death in your 60s.
But, for only the second time on record, US researchers found he also had a separate genetic variation that can help protect against the disease.
Dr Joseph Arboleda-Velasquez, of Mass General Brigham in Boston, said: “The genetic variant can produce extreme resilience and protection against Alzheimer’s symptoms.
“These are the kinds of insights we cannot gain without patients.
“They are showing us what’s important when it comes to protection and challenging many of the field’s assumptions about Alzheimer’s disease and its progression.”
Around 900,000 Brits have dementia, with numbers expected to increase to more than 1million by 2025.
Former health secretary Sajid Javid called for a radical review on how the Government tackles the disease as an “economic, health and fiscal necessity”.
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of the condition, is thought to be caused by build-ups of toxic amyloid and tau proteins in the brain.
Previous research identified a woman who avoided dementia until her 70s despite carrying the Paia mutation because of a variation in her DNA.
The latest paper, published in Nature Medicine, identified a man from the same family with similar resilience to the disease, but triggered by a different gene.
Researchers sifted through genetic data and health records from 1,200 people from Colombia with the Paia mutation.
They found the man saw no changes in his brain power until age 67, not developing Alzheimer’s until he was 72 and dying two years later.
His longevity despite most people with his mutation suffering dementia in their 40s was linked to a variation in the Reelin gene.
It meant that tau had not built-up as much in his brain as would normally be expected, scans revealed.
Dr Yakeel Quiroz, of Massachusetts General Hospital, said the findings could lead to new treatments that “mimic mother nature” in protecting against the disease.
She said: “Extraordinary cases like this illustrate how individuals can help open new avenues for discovery.
“The insights we are gaining from this second case may guide us on where in the brain we need to look to delay and stop disease progression.
“They will help us form new hypotheses about the series of steps that may actually lead to Alzheimer’s dementia.”