Maryland, Feb. 16 -- Brain inflammation, while an important aspect of the immune response, plays a negative effect on Alzheimer's disease. Unlike the acute, short-lived inflammation that fights infection, the inflammation associated with Alzheimer's is chronic and persistent. Scientists have been trying to figure out why this happens.

New research reveals key differences in how the brain's immune system responds to the disease compared to a bacterial infection. The work is presented at the 69th Biophysical Society Annual Meeting in Los Angeles.

The study focuses on how immune cells react to amyloid-beta (Ab) plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer's, and how this immune response differs from the reaction to bacterial toxins. "Bacteria cannot e...