(Photo: 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič from Unsplash)
Although the exact origin of the Alzheimer’s disease is not yet clear, however we know that the excessive accumulation of protein value plays an important role in the development of this pathology. To protect the brain from the formation of these aggregations, however, the coffee which, according to new research from the University of Verona, would have a protective effect against the cognitive decline typical of the disease. The studio was published on Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
The role of coffee
That coffee was an ally against Alzheimer’s disease is nothing new. Several previous researches, in fact, have already suggested how the coffee, and in particular caffeine, may have some benefits against some neurodegenerative diseases, by preventing the aggregation of tau proteins in the brain and thus reducing the symptoms of the disease. As we have you toldfor example, some reviews have shown that for some neurological pathologies, such as precisely Alzheimer’s and Parkinsoncoffee was related to protective effects, improvements and reduction in the risk of suffering from it.
I study
In this new study, the researchers focused on the chemical composition of coffee, using the nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, a technique in which magnetic fields can control and analyze substances at the atomic level. The key ingredients, i.e caffeine, trigonelline, genistein and theobromine were thus incubated together with the tau protein for 40 hours. Subsequent analyzes showed that with increasing concentration of caffeine, genistein or the entire extract of coffee expressed, the aggregates of yes they shortened. Furthermore, experiments have shown that these they were not toxic to cells and did not act to induce further aggregation.
A protection against Alzheimer’s
Of course, applying coffee compounds directly to tau proteins is not the same as simply drinking aespresso. This beverage is first processed in our digestive systems, and while some of these compounds are known to cross the blood-brain barrier, such as caffeine, many other complex chemical interactions within our bodies may not make these effects as effective. Although, therefore, there is still much work to be done, the results of the new study may pave the way for the development of treatments preventive or therapeutic for theAlzheimer and other diseases in which cognitive ability is impaired. “These findings add insight into the potential neuroprotective of espresso and suggest candidate molecular structures for the design of therapies targeting monomeric or fibrillated forms of the protein tau,” the study reads.
Via: Wired.it
Credits immagine: 🇸🇮 Janko Ferlič are Unsplash