News Neuroscience

Antibiotics might fight Alzheimer’s plaques

Mouse study links drug-induced changes in gut bacteria to reduced A-beta buildup in brain

Alzheimer’s plaques in human brain

PLAQUE FIGHTER  A long dose of antibiotics reduced Alzheimer’s-related plaques (shown here in a human brain) in the brains of mice, results that suggest gut bacteria can influence the disease. 

Nephron/ Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

By Laura Sanders

- More than 2 years ago

A long course of antibiotics reduced the levels of a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease in the brains of mice, possibly by changing the species of bacteria in the gut.