A research team in San Sebastián is testing whether damaged myelin helps lead Alzheimer's disease, rather than appearing as a consequence. The distinction matters because these changes may emerge at a very early stage. If researchers can detect and repair myelin damage in time, the approach could open a different path to treatment.
Jordi Llop leads the project, officially called MYAMI, at CIC biomaGUNE. The team is working with Carlos Matute's group at the Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea. They are studying the myelin sheath, which covers the extensions of neurons and helps keep the brain's neural pathways working.
Researchers have observed degraded myelin in people with Alzheimer's. They are now studying how the relationship works: does myelin deterioration contribute to the disease, or does the disease cause it? That question puts a structure surrounding neurons at the center of a condition usually linked to other biological changes. CIC biomaGUNE describes myelin damage as a possible early event and target for detection and treatment. The institute also reports that several studies point to myelin damage occurring before Alzheimer’s symptoms appear, prompting research into whether imaging myelin could help with earlier detection.
The work is being carried out in mice. So far, the team has detected brain changes linked to Alzheimer's in regions with large amounts of myelin. In an interview with Noticias de Gipuzkoa, Jordi Llop said the first results in the mouse model also point to slower disease progression. The findings do not establish a treatment for patients; they give researchers a basis for testing whether protecting myelin can change the course of the disease.
The team uses positron emission tomography to find areas where myelin has deteriorated. The method uses radioactive molecules as markers. Artificial intelligence is also helping automate image analysis, so researchers can identify these changes more consistently, CIC biomaGUNE says in its official description.
The practical aim is to find compounds that can restore myelin or stop it from deteriorating. Noticias de Gipuzkoa reports that the researchers also want to find out whether repairing myelin improves cognitive function in the mouse model. Before any move toward treatment in humans, the compounds would need testing for effectiveness and safety, including toxicity and side effects.
The difference between early disease signs and other health changes has also been examined in an earlier health report. The researchers are not presenting a confirmed explanation for Alzheimer's. They are testing a specific biological hypothesis through imaging and studies in animals. Parke and Noticias de Gipuzkoa have also described the collaboration between CIC biomaGUNE and the University of the Basque Country as a new research direction focused on myelin.
Between 800,000 and one million people in Spain live with Alzheimer's, information from the figures in the research context. The disease has no cure. Current treatments only slow its symptoms. That makes the search for earlier markers and new treatment targets especially impressive for Spanish patients and their families.
Funding comes from Spain’s Ministry of Science, New idea and Universities and the European Social Fund Plus. Ikerbasque also provides funding, as does the Basque Foundation for Science, which depends on the Basque Government. CIC biomaGUNE says MYAMI is funded by Spain’s Ministry of Science, New idea and Universities, the State Research Agency and the European Social Fund Plus. Its announcement also names the State Research Agency among the institutions supporting the project. MYAMI remains research, not an available therapy. The project aims to test whether myelin is part of the mechanism of Alzheimer's and whether imaging can reveal that process early enough to matter.
