How to define the preclinical Alzheimer's Disease state in otherwise healthy elderly. How to best select otherwise healthy elderly for clinical trials participation with a disease modifiying... Show moreHow to define the preclinical Alzheimer's Disease state in otherwise healthy elderly. How to best select otherwise healthy elderly for clinical trials participation with a disease modifiying compound. Difference between healthy elderly and subjects in the preclinical AD stage on biomarker level. Difference in cognitive performance in healthy subjects compared to neurodegenerative disease profiles. Show less
The subject of this Thesis is the role of the immune system in age-related eye diseases, such as glaucoma. Glaucoma is a disease that afflicts nearly 70 million people worldwide. Little is known... Show moreThe subject of this Thesis is the role of the immune system in age-related eye diseases, such as glaucoma. Glaucoma is a disease that afflicts nearly 70 million people worldwide. Little is known about the origins of the disease, which damages the retina and optic nerve and can lead to blindness. One of the biggest risk factors for glaucoma is elevated eye pressure. Our study found that glaucoma may in fact be an autoimmune disorder. We found that the body’s own T cells are responsible for the progressive retinal degeneration seen in glaucoma. Furthermore these T cells appear to be primed to attack retinal neurons as the result of previous interactions with bacteria that normally live in our body. This opens a new approach to prevent and treat glaucoma. Currently most treatments focus on lowering eye pressure. However, in many patients, the disease worsens even after intraocular pressure returns to normal. We showed that when we blocked these autoreactive T cells in the eye, not only does it diminish the loss of retinal ganglion cells and axons, but it also preserves retinal function. Show less
Ilie, A.; Gao, A.Y.L.; Boucher, A.; Park, J.; Berghuis, A.M.; Hoffer, M.J.V.; ... ; Orlowski, J. 2019
