Marking Dementia Action Week a new injection of funding from Alzheimer’s Research UK will help an Oxford University team investigate the links between cholesterol and Alzheimer’s.
“Cholesterol levels are normally tightly regulated in the brain, but there is mounting evidence that excess cholesterol contributes to the brain changes seen in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Professor Colin Akerman.
The research will shed light on the role of astrocytes, cells that produce cholesterol in the brain, and the mechanisms that regulate them. New funding of £39,000 from ARUK will enable Akerman’s team to explore whether changes in brain cholesterol production cause nearby nerve cells to produce the amyloid protein associated with Alzheimer’s.