Brain Inflammation Causes Compulsive Repetitive Behaviour...Effectiveness of existing Alzheimer's treatments
May 13, 2025
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This is the result of a research team led by Um Ji-won, a professor of brain science at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), published in the scientific journal 『Cell Reports"
According to DGIST, the research team identified the cause of chronic brain inflammation and the principle of molecular operation. It proved that the inflammatory response of immune cells in the brain induces hyperactivity of certain receptors, which can lead to meaningless repetitive behavior in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or OCD.
Until now, it has been estimated that behavior such as repeatedly checking whether the door is locked properly is mainly due to neural circuit abnormalities or genetic factors, but no direct link has been revealed that brain inflammation causes this behavior.
Professor Um's team proved that the overactivity of the NMDA glutamate receptor is the direct cause of repeated behavior in the study, which was conducted using mice carrying NLRP3 gene mutations that cause inflammatory reactions. In addition, administration of drugs called memantine and interleukin-1RA (Anakinra), which are used to treat Alzheimer's disease, suppresses the overactivity of NMDA glutamate receptors and disappears repetitive behavior, which is effective in reducing repetitive behavior in NLRP3 gene mutant mice.
These drugs are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are currently being used in Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid arthritis patients. Therefore, it is analyzed that the 'drug repurposing' strategy of recycling drugs with proven stability and efficacy to treat autism or obsessive-compulsive disorder is possible, which can help commercialize treatments.
Professor Um Ji-won said, "This study demonstrates that chronic encephalitis induces hyperactivation of NMDA glutamate receptors, which leads to recurrent behavioral disorders. It could provide a new treatment approach for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder accompanied by recurrent behavior." he said.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
