A recent study indicates the potential transmission of Alzheimer's disease through brain tissue, linking it to a now-banned hormone therapy. The research focused on individuals in the United Kingdom who, as children, underwent a hormone treatment involving injections of human growth hormone derived from cadaver pituitary glands. The treatment, abandoned in the mid-1980s due to its association with another fatal brain disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), is now implicated in Alzheimer's transmission.
While the study couldn't definitively prove the treatment caused Alzheimer's, it supported the theory that beta-amyloid, a toxic protein, may be a key factor in Alzheimer's onset. The hormone therapy, initially intended for growth deficiencies, involved using hormones pooled from cadaver pituitary glands. The discovery that this treatment could transmit CJD raised concerns, with about 200 cases documented globally.
The study tracked down decades-old batches of the hormone treatment and found they contained beta-amyloid. Injecting this toxic protein from the samples into mice induced Alzheimer's-like amyloid plaques. Subsequently, the research team investigated eight adults who received the treatment as children. Most displayed complex medical histories, and five met Alzheimer's diagnosis criteria, experiencing symptoms unusually early.
While the findings are intriguing, scientists emphasize caution, noting that beta-amyloid-induced abnormal protein structures don't necessarily imply real-world Alzheimer's transmission. Challenges include the participants' diverse medical histories and uncertainties about whether the growth hormone alone or other conditions contributed to their symptoms.
The research team plans further studies to ascertain whether these cases are outliers and to uncover additional insights into Alzheimer's onset among recipients of the historic growth hormone therapy. Despite the intriguing findings, experts stress the importance of rigorous interpretation and further investigation to determine the true implications of this potential link between the historic hormone treatment and Alzheimer's disease.
