Danger of disease in nose picking

IN world-first research, Australian scientists have discovered a very dangerous outcome to nose picking.

Griffith University scientists have demonstrated that a bacteria can travel through the olfactory nerve in the nose and into the brain in mice, where it creates markers that are a telltale sign of Alzheimer’s disease.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, shows that Chlamydia pneumoniae used the nerve extending between the nasal cavity and the brain as an invasion path to invade the central nervous system.

The cells in the brain then responded by depositing amyloid beta protein which is a hallmark of

Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor

James St

John, head of the Clem

Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research, is a co-author of the research.

“We’re the first to show that Chlamydia pneumoniae can go directly up the nose and into the brain where it can set off pathologies that look like Alzheimer’s disease,” Professor St John said.

“We saw this happen in a mouse model, and the evidence is potentially scary for humans as well.”

The olfactory nerve in the nose is directly exposed to air and offers a short pathway to the brain, one which bypasses the blood-brain barrier. It’s a route that viruses and bacteria have sniffed out as an easy one into the brain.

The team at the centre is already planning the next phase of research and aim to prove the same pathway exists in humans.

“We need to do this study in humans and confirm whether the same pathway operates in the same way,” Professor St John said.