Researchers tested whether particles from human placental cells could help protect against Alzheimer’s-related brain changes.
In mice, the treatment improved memory performance and reduced certain signs of brain inflammation.
The findings offer a potential research direction, but the treatment has not been established as safe or effective for people.
Alzheimer’s disease is often associated with the buildup of proteins in the brain, including amyloid-beta and tau. But inflammation may also play an important role in how the disease develops and progresses.
In a study published in Translational Neurodegeneration, researchers investigated whether tiny particles produced by human placental cells could help protect the brain against Alzheimer’s-related damage.
These particles, called extracellular vesicles, help cells communicate by carrying biological materials. The researchers focused on vesicles from human amniotic membrane mesenchymal stromal cells, which are found in the membrane surrounding a developing baby.
The goal was to see whether these particles could reduce inflammation, protect connections between brain cells, and help preserve memory.
How the researchers tested the treatment
The team conducted experiments using both mice and human brain cells grown in a laboratory.
For the animal portion, researchers used female mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer’s-like brain changes. Starting at three months of age, the mice received the placental cell-derived particles through their noses twice a week until they were nine months old. Another group received saline for comparison.
The researchers then evaluated the mice using memory tests, including tasks that measured whether they recognized familiar objects, remembered where objects had been placed, and navigated a maze.
They also examined brain tissue to measure amyloid-beta levels, inflammation, changes in brain cells, and proteins involved in communication between neurons.
To explore whether the findings might also apply to humans, the researchers tested the particles on laboratory-grown neurons developed from stem cells from people with sporadic Alzheimer’s disease.
What the findings could mean for consumers
The researchers found that the treatment improved cognitive performance in the mice and lowered amyloid-beta levels in the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory. However, it did not change tau, another protein related to Alzheimer’s.
The treatment also reduced signs of inflammation and increased levels of several proteins associated with brain-cell communication and adaptability.
In the human-cell experiments, the particles helped prevent damage to neuron extensions and restored levels of certain proteins involved in synaptic function, without affecting cell viability.
For consumers, the findings are promising but preliminary. The research suggests that placental cell-derived particles may offer a way to target inflammation and protect brain cells. However, the experiments do not establish that the treatment prevents Alzheimer’s disease or improves memory in people.
Further research will be needed to determine whether this approach can be safely and effectively developed into a treatment for humans.
“These are preclinical results that require further validation in humans and do not yet represent an available therapy for Alzheimer's disease, but they point to a very promising direction: understanding whether some of the mechanisms through which the placenta naturally regulates inflammation and protects tissues could offer new tools for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and, more generally, whether the use of extracellular vesicles represents a new frontier for the treatment of neurological diseases,” researcher Claudio Grassi said in a news release.