β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is not found in the brains of patients with confirmed Alzheimer's disease

Julie P Meneely; Olivier P Chevallier; Stewart Graham; Brett Greer; Brian D Green; Christopher T Elliott

doi:10.1038/srep36363

β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is not found in the brains of patients with confirmed Alzheimer's disease

Julie P Meneely, Olivier P Chevallier, Stewart Graham, Brett Greer, Brian D Green, Christopher T Elliott

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Abstract

Controversy surrounds the proposed hypothesis that exposure to β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) could play a role in various neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we present the results of the most comprehensive scientific study on BMAA detection ever undertaken on brain samples from patients pathologically confirmed to have suffered from AD, and those from healthy volunteers. Following the full validation of a highly accurate and sensitive mass spectrometric method, no trace of BMAA was detected in the diseased brain or in the control specimens. This contradicts the findings of other reports and calls into question the significance of this compound in neurodegenerative disease. We have attempted to explain the potential causes of misidentification of BMAA in these studies.

Original language	English
Article number	36363
Number of pages	9
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/srep36363
Publication status	Published - 08 Nov 2016
Externally published	Yes

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10.1038/srep36363Licence: CC BY

β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is not found in the brains of patients with confirmed Alzheimer's disease
© The Author(s) 2016 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Final published version, 745 KBLicence: CC BY

Christopher Elliott
- chris.elliottqub.acuk
- School of Biological Sciences - Professor
- Institute for Global Food Security
Person: Academic

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title = "β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is not found in the brains of patients with confirmed Alzheimer's disease",

abstract = "Controversy surrounds the proposed hypothesis that exposure to β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) could play a role in various neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we present the results of the most comprehensive scientific study on BMAA detection ever undertaken on brain samples from patients pathologically confirmed to have suffered from AD, and those from healthy volunteers. Following the full validation of a highly accurate and sensitive mass spectrometric method, no trace of BMAA was detected in the diseased brain or in the control specimens. This contradicts the findings of other reports and calls into question the significance of this compound in neurodegenerative disease. We have attempted to explain the potential causes of misidentification of BMAA in these studies.",

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AU - Greer, Brett

AU - Green, Brian D

AU - Elliott, Christopher T

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β-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is not found in the brains of patients with confirmed Alzheimer's disease

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Christopher Elliott

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