Researchers at the University of Barcelona identified abnormal accumulations of waste in tissues from patients with Alzheimer's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration, according to a study published in Acta Neuropathologica Communications. The anatomopathological analysis of tissues collected from 185 post-mortem donors revealed a high concentration of wasteosomes — amyloid bodies that aggregate metabolic debris — precisely in the vicinity of the fluid drainage pathways. This finding points to a prolonged deficit in the glymphatic system, the biological structure responsible for filtering and removing dangerous aggregates such as the beta-amyloid protein and the tau protein.
Despite the relevance of the data, independent specialists caution that the observation does not prove a direct causal link. Portuguese neurologist Miguel Seabra emphasizes that different neurodegenerative diseases may share alterations in waste removal mechanisms, but that it is still not possible to determine whether reduced efficiency of the glymphatic system contributes to the onset of the disease or is a consequence of the neurodegeneration itself.
International research has associated nocturnal rest with the activation of the brain's cleansing mechanism, with greater circulation of cerebrospinal fluid during deep sleep. However, Miguel Seabra rejects simplistic interpretations, stating that it would be wrong to say that sleeping better prevents Alzheimer's, given that the evidence does not yet support such a conclusion.
In Portugal, the Neurochemistry Laboratory at the University of Coimbra conducts research on biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid and blood for early diagnosis, while the institution, under the leadership of Nuno Apóstolo, studies the role of the IgLON5 protein using artificial intelligence. The Faculty of Medicine at the University of Porto and the Memory Unit at Hospital CUF Porto maintain ongoing trials focused on hematological markers.
