6 ms·

Watch out, there is no reliable Mouse Model for Alzheimer's. I was deeply involved with mouse models at some point before quitting my phd in neuroscience and I

Watch out, there is no reliable Mouse Model for Alzheimer's. I was deeply involved with mouse models at some point before quitting my phd in neuroscience and I quite remember that.

kovek 1y ago
Could you share some sources that show this to be true?
- j_bum 1y ago
  Not a source, but the fact that we can treat AD in mice but not humans should demonstrate OPs point sufficiently.
- themafia 1y ago
  Wild mice do not get AD. Even if you let them achieve old age they do not develop the same brain plaques or tangles that are linked to Alzheimers. Even if they did you'd have to run huge samples then do post testing necropsies to see which mice had AD which which didn't, then filter your data, then try to find results in what remains. Otherwise you can inject the mice with a chemical known to cause AD, which is not reliable on it's own, so you can get genetically modified mice which express _some_ of the known plaques and misfolds that are associated with human AD. Animal testing is still, largely, a very unethical and cruel affair. AD testing in mice is especially fraught with hazard.
  - woeirua 1y ago
    If you believe the paper, the authors were able to create symptoms and plaques similar to AD just by reducing lithium levels in the diet of these mice.
- xkcd-sucks 1y ago
  It's like kind of challenging to prove this kind of negative, and the supposed proof here comprises no more than pedigreed words on a page, but here consider the section "What constitutes a good model for AD?": https://sci-hub.se/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-018-0054-8 https://sci-hub.se/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-01...
csaid81 1y ago
Yes, but not only did they improve the memory of mouse models of Alzheimer's, they also improved the memory of older wild-type mice, which seems impressive to me. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09335-x/figures/18 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09335-x/figures/1...
leoh 1y ago
> Lithium was the only metal that differed significantly between people with and without mild cognitive impairment, often a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease. Not a causative finding in humans but darn interesting

Watch out, there is no reliable Mouse Model for Alzheimer's. I was deeply involved with mouse models at some point before quitting my phd in neuroscience and I quite remember that.

kovek 1y ago

Could you share some sources that show this to be true?

j_bum 1y ago
Not a source, but the fact that we can treat AD in mice but not humans should demonstrate OPs point sufficiently.
themafia 1y ago
Wild mice do not get AD. Even if you let them achieve old age they do not develop the same brain plaques or tangles that are linked to Alzheimers. Even if they did you'd have to run huge samples then do post testing necropsies to see which mice had AD which which didn't, then filter your data, then try to find results in what remains. Otherwise you can inject the mice with a chemical known to cause AD, which is not reliable on it's own, so you can get genetically modified mice which express _some_ of the known plaques and misfolds that are associated with human AD. Animal testing is still, largely, a very unethical and cruel affair. AD testing in mice is especially fraught with hazard.
- woeirua 1y ago
  If you believe the paper, the authors were able to create symptoms and plaques similar to AD just by reducing lithium levels in the diet of these mice.
xkcd-sucks 1y ago
It's like kind of challenging to prove this kind of negative, and the supposed proof here comprises no more than pedigreed words on a page, but here consider the section "What constitutes a good model for AD?": https://sci-hub.se/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-018-0054-8 https://sci-hub.se/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-01...

csaid81 1y ago

Yes, but not only did they improve the memory of mouse models of Alzheimer's, they also improved the memory of older wild-type mice, which seems impressive to me. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09335-x/figures/18 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09335-x/figures/1...

leoh 1y ago

> Lithium was the only metal that differed significantly between people with and without mild cognitive impairment, often a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease. Not a causative finding in humans but darn interesting