About a new study by US scientists that found additional evidence of this connection, Psypost. In the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease special proteins accumulate – beta-amyloids, which over time begin to stick together and form “plaques”. These plaques impair the function of brain cells, which in turn can lead to cognitive problems, including memory loss. From the brain of a healthy person, this protein is excreted before it has a chance to cause problems.
The latest study showed that the cells responsible for removing beta-amyloid plaques and maintaining brain health also follow a 24-hour circadian rhythm: if the circadian rhythm is disrupted, it is more difficult for these cells to remove harmful plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
In their study, the team looked at macrophages, immune cells found throughout the body, including the brain. Essentially, macrophages eat anything that could pose a threat to the body, such as bacteria or misshaped proteins. To see if these immune cells follow a circadian rhythm, the researchers used laboratory-grown mouse macrophages.
When they fed the cells with beta-amyloid, they found that the ability of macrophages to eliminate beta-amyloid changed within 24 hours. In addition, they noticed that complex proteins on the surface of macrophages – proteoglycans – also had a similar circadian rhythm during the day: when the amount of proteoglycans was at its lowest level, the amount of beta-amyloid protein also decreased to a minimum.