London
CNN
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3 brains Dolphin Found stranded along the Scottish coast, Alzheimer’s diseaseaccording to new research, offers greater insight into disease in species other than humans.
Findings may also provide possible answers to unexplained problems grounding According to researchers, the number of dolphins along the coast.
Alzheimer’s disease is a common neurodegenerative disease It mainly affects older people and is accompanied by symptoms such as Amnesia, forgetfulness, confusion.
According to a study published Dec. 13, European Journal of NeuroscienceScottish researchers conducted a post-mortem study of the brains of 22 people teethor toothed whales, making their finds more detailed compared to others. said the author.
“It’s deeper and broader because it looks at more animals from several different species of cetacean that are known to be aging for that species,” said co-author Mark Dagleish. said Mr. a senior clinician in anatomic pathology at the University of Glasgow told CNN on Tuesday.
In this study, five specimens were examined. Lisso dolphins, crab pilot whales, beluga whales, porpoises and bottlenose dolphins. Of the 22 studied, 18 were aged specimens.
“Critically,[it]looked at the whole brain to provide a lesion (abnormality) profile using more markers of Alzheimer’s disease,” Dagleish added.
Findings showed that three aged dolphins (Tuna, Beluga, and Bottlenose) exhibited brain changes or lesions associated with Alzheimer’s disease in humans.
Tara Spiers Jones Co-authors of another study statement Researchers said this week that they were “intrigued by the similarity of brain changes in aging dolphins to those in humans (aging) and Alzheimer’s disease.”
“Whether these pathological changes contribute to stranding in these animals is an interesting and important question for future research,” said Spiers-Jones. Personal Chair of Neurodegeneration, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, University of Edinburgh.
The researchers found that the specimens accumulated and formed phosphorylated tau protein and glial cells. amyloid beta plaque, protein clumps found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. The distribution of these lesions was comparable to brain regions in humans with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the research paper.
Dagleish said the findings are “the closest we’ve been able to show that an animal develops the pathology associated with Alzheimer’s disease spontaneously,” which is thought to occur only in humans. rice field.
Dentists regularly become stranded on British shores in groups, and the study’s authors say they may support the ‘disease leader’ theory, in which groups follow an aging leader into shallow waters. said.
Similar neuropathology in aged dolphins and humans with Alzheimer’s disease suggests that marine mammals are predisposed to the disease, but a diagnosis can only be made if there is cognitive impairment. Discovered using cognitive impairment assessments, not possible in postmortem studies.
