Tatjana Rundek, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology and director of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute, presented new research on a protein called osteopontin, which has long been implicated in neuroinflammation.

The research team showed that participants in the multiethnic study who experienced dementia and cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) had elevated osteopontin levels. This indicated that the combination of vascular dysfunction from the CSVD and inflammation associated with osteopontin may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Dr. Rundek’s group continues to study osteopontin’s association with dementia — studies that could eventually produce more effective therapeutics, diagnostics or both.

Click to Read More