The Cause of Alzheimer's Could Be Coming From Inside Your Mouth - ScienceAlert

In recent years, a growing number of scientific studies have backed an alarming hypothesis: Alzheimer's disease isn't just a disease, it's an infection.

In a paper led by senior author Jan Potempa, a microbiologist from the University of Louisville, researchers reported the discovery of Porphyromonas gingivalis – the pathogen behind chronic periodontitis (aka gum disease) – in the brains of deceased Alzheimer's patients.

gingivalis' gingipains (red) among neurons in the brain of a patient with Alzheimer's.

In addition, the team identified toxic enzymes called gingipains secreted by the bacteria in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, which correlated with two separate markers of the disease: the tau protein, and a protein tag called ubiquitin.

But even more compellingly, the team identified these toxic gingipains in the brains of deceased people who were never diagnosed with Alzheimer's.