A project led by Professor Maite Solas from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Navarra could provide a new perspective on the origins of Alzheimer’s disease. Thanks to the award of a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant, Solas will lead the “HyperAstroMet” research project, which focuses on a largely unexplored factor: how glucose metabolism in astrocytes may be involved in the earliest stages of the disease.
Traditionally, Alzheimer’s research has focused on beta-amyloid and tau proteins. However, this new line of investigation suggests that before these proteins begin to accumulate, a silent “energy failure” may already be triggering the neurodegenerative process. The goal is to detect and intervene before symptoms appear, developing therapies that target these very early stages.
Although her research proposes an alternative pathway, Solas does not dismiss the role of beta-amyloid and tau proteins. “Alzheimer’s vaccines have shown some effectiveness against beta-amyloid. Our approach does not deny its importance, but rather suggests there may be an earlier alteration that current methods are unable to detect,” she explained.
The European grant will allow Solas to build a team of five researchers and work with long-term stability over the next five years. “In Spain, research funding is often short term. This grant gives us the opportunity to focus fully on the project,” she said.
Although the brain represents only 2% of total body weight, it consumes around 25% of the glucose we ingest. This high energy demand is necessary to sustain neuronal activity. “We propose that in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s, glucose use begins to change,” the researcher explained.
The study focuses on astrocytes, glial cells that for many years were considered merely supportive structures. Today, scientists know they regulate essential functions, including the brain’s energy balance. Solas suggests that when these cells detect stress signals, they may abnormally increase their glucose consumption, ultimately damaging the neuronal environment.
“The novelty of this work is that glucose was not previously thought to play a key role in Alzheimer’s disease. We propose that astrocytes overconsume glucose in the earliest stages, contributing to neurodegeneration,” she noted.
“Neurons have been the most studied cells because they are the ones that die in Alzheimer’s. But perhaps the surrounding cells are actually at the origin of the disease. That is why we want to investigate brain energetics,” Solas said in an interview with Europa Press.