Monitoring Alzheimer’s disease via ultraweak photon emission

• Published in: iScience 2024-01, Vol.27 (1), p.108744-108744, Article 108744
• Main Authors: Sefati, Niloofar, Esmaeilpour, Tahereh, Salari, Vahid, Zarifkar, Asadollah, Dehghani, Farzaneh, Ghaffari, Mahdi Khorsand, Zadeh-Haghighi, Hadi, Császár, Noémi, Bókkon, István, Rodrigues, Serafim, Oblak, Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Neuroscience; Physics; Techniques in neuroscience
• ISSN: 2589-0042; 2589-0042
• DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108744

In an innovative experiment, we detected ultraweak photon emission (UPE) from the hippocampus of male rat brains and found significant correlations between Alzheimer’s disease (AD), memory decline, oxidative stress, and UPE intensity. These findings may open up novel methods for screening, detecting, diagnosing, and classifying neurodegenerative diseases, particularly AD. The study suggests that UPE from the brain’s neural tissue can serve as a valuable indicator. It also proposes the development of a minimally invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) photonic chip for monitoring and diagnosing AD, offering high spatiotemporal resolution of brain activity. The study used a rodent model of sporadic AD, demonstrating that STZ-induced sAD resulted in increased hippocampal UPE, which was associated with oxidative stress. Treatment with donepezil reduced UPE and improved oxidative stress. These findings support the potential utility of UPE as a screening and diagnostic tool for AD and other neurodegenerative diseases. [Display omitted] •Elevated hippocampal UPE levels in STZ-injected rats: Insights into tissue redox dynamics•Donepezil reduces UPE and enhances neuroprotection in STZ-injected rats•Linking hippocampal UPE to oxidative stress and acetylcholinesterase activity•A potential revolutionary monitoring Alzheimer's disease via photonic chips Physics; Neuroscience; Techniques in neuroscience