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Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Potential Role of Nose-Picking in Pathogen Entry via the Olfactory System?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive cognitive decline and memory impairment. Many possible factors might contribute to the development of AD, including amyloid peptide and tau deposition, but more recent evidence suggests that neuroinflammati...

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Autores principales: Zhou, Xian, Kumar, Paayal, Bhuyan, Deep J., Jensen, Slade O., Roberts, Tara L., Münch, Gerald W.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10669446/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38002250
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom13111568
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author Zhou, Xian
Kumar, Paayal
Bhuyan, Deep J.
Jensen, Slade O.
Roberts, Tara L.
Münch, Gerald W.
author_facet Zhou, Xian
Kumar, Paayal
Bhuyan, Deep J.
Jensen, Slade O.
Roberts, Tara L.
Münch, Gerald W.
author_sort Zhou, Xian
collection PubMed
description Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive cognitive decline and memory impairment. Many possible factors might contribute to the development of AD, including amyloid peptide and tau deposition, but more recent evidence suggests that neuroinflammation may also play an—at least partial—role in its pathogenesis. In recent years, emerging research has explored the possible involvement of external, invading pathogens in starting or accelerating the neuroinflammatory processes in AD. In this narrative review, we advance the hypothesis that neuroinflammation in AD might be partially caused by viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens entering the brain through the nose and the olfactory system. The olfactory system represents a plausible route for pathogen entry, given its direct anatomical connection to the brain and its involvement in the early stages of AD. We discuss the potential mechanisms through which pathogens may exploit the olfactory pathway to initiate neuroinflammation, one of them being accidental exposure of the olfactory mucosa to hands contaminated with soil and feces when picking one’s nose.
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spelling pubmed-106694462023-10-24 Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Potential Role of Nose-Picking in Pathogen Entry via the Olfactory System? Zhou, Xian Kumar, Paayal Bhuyan, Deep J. Jensen, Slade O. Roberts, Tara L. Münch, Gerald W. Biomolecules Review Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive cognitive decline and memory impairment. Many possible factors might contribute to the development of AD, including amyloid peptide and tau deposition, but more recent evidence suggests that neuroinflammation may also play an—at least partial—role in its pathogenesis. In recent years, emerging research has explored the possible involvement of external, invading pathogens in starting or accelerating the neuroinflammatory processes in AD. In this narrative review, we advance the hypothesis that neuroinflammation in AD might be partially caused by viral, bacterial, and fungal pathogens entering the brain through the nose and the olfactory system. The olfactory system represents a plausible route for pathogen entry, given its direct anatomical connection to the brain and its involvement in the early stages of AD. We discuss the potential mechanisms through which pathogens may exploit the olfactory pathway to initiate neuroinflammation, one of them being accidental exposure of the olfactory mucosa to hands contaminated with soil and feces when picking one’s nose. MDPI 2023-10-24 /pmc/articles/PMC10669446/ /pubmed/38002250 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom13111568 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Zhou, Xian
Kumar, Paayal
Bhuyan, Deep J.
Jensen, Slade O.
Roberts, Tara L.
Münch, Gerald W.
Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Potential Role of Nose-Picking in Pathogen Entry via the Olfactory System?
title Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Potential Role of Nose-Picking in Pathogen Entry via the Olfactory System?
title_full Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Potential Role of Nose-Picking in Pathogen Entry via the Olfactory System?
title_fullStr Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Potential Role of Nose-Picking in Pathogen Entry via the Olfactory System?
title_full_unstemmed Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Potential Role of Nose-Picking in Pathogen Entry via the Olfactory System?
title_short Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Potential Role of Nose-Picking in Pathogen Entry via the Olfactory System?
title_sort neuroinflammation in alzheimer’s disease: a potential role of nose-picking in pathogen entry via the olfactory system?
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10669446/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38002250
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom13111568
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