2024-01-29 16:00:00
Alzheimer’s disease spread through contaminated growth hormone treatment
Alzheimer’s disease onset is fast and cognitive impairment is confirmed.
▲ People who were treated with human cadaveric growth hormone (c-hGH), which was used in the 1950s to 1980s but is no longer used, were found to show symptoms of Alzheimer’s. The research team explained that the results of this study showed the possibility that Alzheimer’s can be transmitted not only hereditary but also acquired. Provided by Pexels Research has shown that people who received growth hormone treatment in childhood suffer from cognitive impairment equivalent to the early symptoms of Alzheimer’s dementia. This means that Alzheimer’s is generally known to be caused by deposition of amyloid beta protein or tau protein in the brain, but it can also occur in an acquired form due to medical treatment, so the medical community is showing extraordinary interest.
A joint research team from the University College London (UCL) Prion Disease Research Institute, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, National Dementia Research Institute, and National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery found that five people who received human pituitary-derived growth hormone treatment in childhood suffered from early and progressive cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease. . The results of this study were published in the January 30th issue of ‘Nature Medicine’, an international medical journal.
Growth hormone treatment began in 1958 when Dr. Maurice Raven of the United States first reported the effects of administering growth hormone derived from the human pituitary gland extracted from a cadaver to a 17-year-old male adolescent diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency. From 1959 to 1985, 1,848 people in the UK received treatment with human growth hormone (c-hGH) extracted from the pituitary gland of a cadaver. However, it is no longer used around the world after some people died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), also known as ‘human mad cow disease’, after receiving c-hGH contaminated with prions. Currently, growth hormones derived from genetic recombination have been developed and are safely prescribed.
As a result of post-mortem examination of the deceased, amyloid beta protein aggregates were found in some of the brains. However, it could not be clearly confirmed whether Alzheimer’s disease occurred before death due to CJD symptoms. According to previous research, the c-hGH used at the time still contained measurable amyloid beta protein, and when administered to mice, Alzheimer’s disease developed, raising the possibility of contagion.
Infection researchers confirm the possibility of Alzheimer’s disease transmission using growth hormones currently banned.
Accordingly, the research team randomly selected and analyzed eight people in the UK who received c-hGH as children but did not develop CJD. As a result, five people showed symptoms of early dementia that met the criteria for Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Symptoms appeared relatively early, between the ages of 38 and 55, and showed progressive impairment in two or more cognitive areas severe enough to affect daily life performance. One patient first developed symptoms at age 42 and had mild cognitive impairment, and the other had only subjective cognitive impairment. The remaining one did not show any symptoms, but as a result of biomarker analysis for diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, it was found that the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease was very high.
Additionally, as a result of extensive autopsies conducted on two patients who died during the study period, aggregation of amyloid beta protein, which is considered the cause of Alzheimer’s disease, was confirmed.
Accordingly, the research team explained that Alzheimer’s disease is also potentially contagious, and like CJD, Alzheimer’s disease can have a hereditary and rare acquired form.
Professor John Colling of UCL School of Medicine, who led the study, said, “It is true that iatrogenic transmission of Alzheimer’s disease is rare because the c-hGH that the patients in this study received is no longer used and symptoms appeared after repeated exposure over several years.” “There is still no evidence that Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted in other situations, such as routine care or daily life,” he said. However, Professor Colling advised, “Now that transmission of amyloid beta protein has been confirmed, measures to prevent accidental transmission through other medical treatments and procedures should be reviewed.”
Reporter Yoo Yong-ha
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