Translocator protein

It explains why, in Grain Brain, why a higher carb diet, and we'll unpack this today, is associated with activation of these microglial cells.

It explains why permeability of the gut, of all things, from having changes in our gut bacteria leads to increased inflammation that will activate these microglial cells and shift them to becoming, again, the evil twin We now see that we can, research-wise anyway, image the brain in living humans using what's called a TSPO scan.

This scan images when the microglia are activated to their destructive state.

So a positive TSPO scan shows activation of the microglial cells.

And we see that the TSPO scan is positive as you would expect in Alzheimer's, in Parkinson's, in multi-system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy, major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress, and even long COVID.

So really, this whole notion of activation of the brain's immune cells called microglia throws an incredibly large net.

And that is giving us all a level of empowerment now that we've never had access to in the past.

So that's something I would love to see.

And indeed, just today it was presented a clinical trial targeting microglial activation whose primary outcome was neuroinflammatory PET imaging, so TSPO imaging.

So we're starting to even see neuroimaging as a primary outcome in our field, which has happened already in other fields of neurology or even neurodegeneration, but it's something still new in our world, right?

Yeah.

There are obviously many more, much more sophisticated tests that are out there.

One interesting, uh, uh, research tool is called a TSPO scan.

TSPO is a marker on the surface of the activated destructive microglial brain immune cells, and we can scan for that now using a type of PET scan in living humans.

And interestingly, we see that this TSPO scan is positive, in other words, showing that these microglial cells are activated in their threatening configuration.

Of course, we see it in Alzheimer's, in Parkinson's, in MS, in long COVID, in, uh, PTSD, and even in major depressive disorder.

So it means then that this activation of the brain's immune cells, did I say over which we have control a few times, uh, is s- something that as, is at play across a very wide spectrum of issues that affect the brain.