Lead exposure linked to Alzheimer’s disease: ICMR study

Lead exposure can lead to Alzheimer’s - a progressive disease that destroys memory and other important mental function, scientists at the Indian Council of Medical Research-led National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) have established through laboratory-based studies.

Lead is a common pollutant that can get into environment from a number of commonly used materials like paints, cosmetics, batteries, glass and low grade toys, and is known to affect the central nervous system after prolonged exposure.

Its role as a risk factor in development of neurodegenerative diseases is also established through various studies globally.

“Recent lab-based studies conducted at ICMR-NIN have now established the possible link between lead exposure and Alzheimer’s disease,” said ICMR in a statement.

A team led by ICMR- NIN’s senior scientist Dr Suresh Challa has shown the molecular mechanism involved in the development of lead induced Alzheimer’s disease through in vitro studies.

“In fact, Alzheimer’s Disease has a complex pathophysiology which involves initially formation of beta amyloid plaques and tangles in the brain. In addition, oxidative stress and inflammation are known to be involved in the progression of the disease, with loss of memory and neuronal cell death. In this scenario, our study investigated the basic molecular mechanism behind the involvement of lead in Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr Challa

The scientists simulated brain cells in vitro with beta amyloid peptides like in Alzheimer’s disease and the effect of lead exposure was then studied. It showed increased cell death and increased levels of pro-apoptotic marker proteins.

Also, the proteins involved in neurodevelopment and regeneration have depleted. Such effects led to decreased expression levels of synaptophysin (membrane protein), finally leading to loss of memory as in Alzheimer’s disease.

“Maternal exposure to lead during pregnancy can cause developmental reprogramming which can lead to higher risk and early onset of Alzheimer’s disease in later life of the child. Since lead exposure is an important public health concern, the current findings could be another piece in solving the puzzle towards understanding the intracellular mechanism of Alzheimer’s disease. Such findings may as well help in developing preventive and management strategies for elderly,” said Dr R Hemalatha, director, ICMR-NIN.

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New device harvests heart’s energy to power life-saving implants

Millions of people rely on pacemakers, defibrillators and other life-saving implantable devices powered by batteries that need to be replaced every five to 10 years. 

The same modules could potentially be used as sensors to enable data collection for real-time monitoring of patients, researchers said.

Novel pacemakers can be powered with light.

Smartphone-sized device to monitor your pacemaker at home

Soon, battery-free pacemakers powered by your heart

Scientists have developed a dime-sized device to capture and convert the kinetic energy of the heart into electricity to power a wide-range of life-saving implantable devices such as pacemakers. The heart’s motion is so powerful that it can recharge devices that save our lives, said researchers.

Millions of people rely on pacemakers, defibrillators and other live-saving implantable devices powered by batteries that need to be replaced every five to 10 years, they said. Those replacements require surgery which can be costly and create the possibility of complications and infections, according to the study published in the journal.

“We are trying to solve the ultimate problem for any implantable biomedical device,” said a researcher.

“Of equal importance is that the device not interfere with the body’s function,” said  a research associate. “We knew it had to be bio-compatible, lightweight, flexible, and low profile, so it not only fits into the current pacemaker structure but is also scalable for future multi-functionality,” he said.

The team proposes modifying pacemakers to harness the kinetic energy of the lead wire that is attached to the heart, converting it into electricity to continually charge the batteries. The added material is a type of thin polymer piezoelectric film called “PVDF” and, when designed with porous structures — either an array of small buckle beams or a flexible cantilever — it can convert even small mechanical motion to electricity.

“We have completed the first round of animal studies with great results which will be published soon,” he said. “There is already a lot of expressed interest from the major medical technology companies,” said  one of the study’s authors.

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