Inflammation is the body’s normal response to injury and infection. It can be healthy or harmful depending on the situation. We know that when people with dementia get infections their memory symptoms can get worse. Blood vessels normally block the entry of bacteria and chemicals into the brain, which if allowed to enter would cause damage to nerve cells. This defence is called the blood-brain barrier (BBB).  Research studies have measured how much of a chemical contrast moves from the blood into the brain using a brain scan and suggested that the BBB may become leakier in dementia. We have developed a more accurate method to measure BBB leakiness, using these brain scans.

We are interested in how the BBB, inflammation and dementia are linked. We believe that with our improved method of measuring BBB leakiness, this study could lead to new information about the cause of dementia and help us to predict those people with Alzheimer’s disease who may get worse more quickly. This pilot project will be an observational clinical study with cross-sectional and longitudinal components, exploring BBB permeability and systemic inflammation in AD participants and controls.