Lung-Brain Axis: A Potential Pathway for the Development of Dementia.

• Grant number: 24/13576-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: October 23, 2024
• End date: October 22, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Organs and Systems
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Augusto de Oliveira Ribeiro
• Grantee: Fernando Augusto de Oliveira Ribeiro
• Host Investigator: Anne Sperling
• Host Institution: Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Virginia (UVa), United States

Abstract

Dementia is a multifactorial disease affecting over 55 million people and stands as the seventh leading global cause of mortality. Numerous risk factors have been discerned, including genetics, environment, sociodemographics, lifestyle, and the presence of comorbidities. Diligent efforts to identify and mitigate these risk factors hold the potential to significantly curtail dementia's prevalence or delay its onset. A substantial body of evidence suggests that asthma, a chronic airway disease, may represent a prevalent and modifiable risk factor for dementia.An elevated risk of dementia and accelerated cognitive decline among individuals with severe asthma has been revealed through a comprehensive analysis of cognitive performance and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers associated with brain pathologies. Building upon this premise, the overarching hypothesis of this project posits that the emergence of type 2 circulating cytokines, stemming from inflammation caused by asthma, exerts an impact on brain function.