Scientists have presented a new method to enhance the glymphatic system’s clearance of proteins that accumulate during Alzheimer’s disease by having subjects lie on a vibrating mattress while taking nitric oxide pills.
The intervention caused brain blood vessels to swell and constrict more strongly, which improved the removal of disease-linked proteins. Participants took a pill that dissolved under the tongue to release nitric oxide and then lay on a mattress that caused gentle body vibrations for 40 minutes. The subjects took a second pill halfway through the 40-minute vibration period.
Blood samples showed that levels of beta-amyloid 42 increased by an average of 35 per cent following the procedure.
Kiviniemi said, “The treatment seemed to enhance the glymphatic system’s ability to clear beta-amyloid from the brain to the blood.” Tuomas Lilius at the University of Helsinki described the 35 per cent increase in circulating beta-amyloid 42 as a substantial and very interesting acute effect.
Lilius added that it is certainly possible the treatment could become biologically and eventually clinically relevant. Six participants reported experiencing headaches or nausea during the trial. Christopher Brown at the University of Southampton, UK, suggested the intervention might slow the liver's breakdown of beta-amyloid 42, resulting in higher bloodstream amounts.
Brain scans indicated that using only the vibrating mattress or only the nitric oxide pills produced less than half the effect on the glymphatic system compared to the combined approach. Previous research in mice demonstrated that vibrating the body activates Piezo1, a motion-sensitive protein located in the muscle cells of brain blood vessel walls.
Christopher Brown at the University of Southampton, UK, stated, “It’s important to come at this from as many angles as possible, to increase the chance of this translating to the clinic and benefitting patients.” Vesa Kiviniemi at the University of Oulu in Finland warned that nitric oxide can reduce blood pressure and might lead to a loss of consciousness if a person already has low blood pressure.
