TB Vaccine And Its Link To Alzheimer's Disease

Gist - Researchers have discovered that the century-old Bacillus Calmette-Guérin BCG tuberculosis vaccine may help prevent Alzheimer's disease by retraining innate immune cells to clear toxic brain plaques . - The study demonstrated that BCG triggers a process called "trained immunity," which safely shifts cerebrospinal fluid into a calming state without causing harmful neuroinflammation . - For civil services aspirants, this highlights a critical intersection of immunology and neurodegenerative disease , offering a highly affordable, preventive public health tool against the growing global burden of dementia . Background - As the human body ages, the immune system enters a state of chronic, low-grade inflammation known as 'inflammaging' . - In the brain, this chronic inflammation impairs the immune cells responsible for clearing amyloid-beta —a protein that clumps together to form the toxic plaques that are the primary hallmark of Alzheimer's disease . - Traditionally, vaccines are designed to target specific pathogens, but the BCG vaccine exhibits a phenomenon known as 'trained immunity' . - This mechanism imparts a long-lasting memory to innate immune cells , making them highly responsive to…