| 1. |
- Aho, Leena, et al.
(författare)
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Immunohistochemical Visualization of Amyloid-β Protein Precursor and Amyloid-β in Extra- and Intracellular Compartments in the Human Brain
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 20:4, s. 1015-1028
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide, a cleavage product of the amyloid-beta protein precursor (AbetaPP), has been reported to be detected in the intracellular compartment. Most studies reporting the presence of intracellular Abeta are based on the use of immunohistochemistry. In this study, the presence of AbetaPP and Abeta was assessed by applying immunohistochemistry in postmortem human brain tissue samples obtained from 10 neurologically intact subjects, the youngest being 2 years of age, one aged with mild cognitive impairment, 14 neurologically diseased, and in one brain biopsy sample obtained from a subject with normal pressure hydrocephalus. Intracellular immunoreactivity was detected in all ages independent of the disease state or existence of extracellular Abeta aggregates with all antibodies directed to AbetaPP, with three Abeta antibodies (4G8, 6E10, and 82E1), clones that are unable to distinguish Abeta from AbetaPP. These results suggest that it is AbetaPP rather than Abeta that is detected intracellularly when using the antibodies listed above. Furthermore, the staining results varied when different pretreatment strategies were applied. Interestingly intracellular Abeta was detected with antibodies directed to the C-terminus of Abeta (neoepitope) in subjects with Alzheimer's disease. The lack of intracellular immunoreactivity in unimpaired subjects, when using antibodies against neoepitopes, may be due to a lack or a low level of the protein that is thus undetectable at light microscopic level by immunohistochemistry method. The staining results and conclusions depended strongly on the chosen antibody and the pretreatment strategy and thus multiple antibodies must be used when assessing the intracellular accumulation of Abeta.
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| 2. |
- Alafuzoff, Irina
(författare)
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Alzheimer's disease-related lesions
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 33:Suppl 1, s. S173-S179
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The invitation to contribute to "Alzheimer's Disease: Advances for a New Century" gave me an opportunity to briefly summarize my personal opinions about how the field of neuropathology has evolved. The goal is to briefly exemplify the changes that have influenced the way we conduct our diagnostic work as well as the way we interpret our results. From an era of histological stains, we have moved to visualization of altered proteins in predicted brain regions; we have also realized that in many aged subjects, not one but a plethora of co-pathologies are seen, and finally, we have become aware that the degenerative process is initiated much earlier than we ever suspected.
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| 3. |
- Alafuzoff, Irina, et al.
(författare)
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Mixed Brain Pathology Is the Most Common Cause of Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - : IOS PRESS. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 78:1, s. 453-465
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Systemic diseases, diabetes mellitus (DM), and cardiovascular disease (CaVD) have been suggested being risk factors for cognitive impairment (CI) and/or influence Alzheimer's disease neuropathologic change (ADNC).Objective: The purpose was to assess the type and the extent of neuropathological alterations in the brain and to assess whether brain pathology was associated with CaVD or DM related alterations in peripheral organs, i.e., vessels, heart, and kidney.Methods: 119 subjects, 15% with DM and 24% with CI, age range 80 to 89 years, were chosen and neuropathological alterations were assessed applying immunohistochemistry.Results: Hyperphosphorylated tau (HP tau) was seen in 99%, amyloid-beta (A beta) in 71%, transactive DNA binding protein 43 (TDP43) in 62%, and alpha-synuclein (alpha S) in 21% of the subjects. Primary age related tauopathy was diagnosed in 29% (more common in females), limbic predominant age-related TDP encephalopathy in 4% (14% of subjects with CI), and dementia with Lewy bodies in 3% (14% of subjects with CI) of the subjects. High/intermediate level of ADNC was seen in 47% and the extent of HPt increased with age. The extent of ADNC was not associated with the extent of pathology observed in peripheral organs, i.e., DM or CaVD. Contrary, brain alterations such as pTDP43 and cerebrovascular lesions (CeVL) were influenced by DM, and CeVL correlated significantly with the extent of vessel pathology.Conclusion: In most (66%) subjects with CI, the cause of impairment was "mixed pathology", i.e., ADNC combined with TDP43, alpha S, or vascular brain lesions. Furthermore, our results suggest that systemic diseases, DMand CaVD, are risk factors for CI but not related to ADNC.
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| 4. |
- Herukka, Sanna-Kaisa, et al.
(författare)
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Amyloid-beta and Tau Dynamics in Human Brain Interstitial Fluid in Patients with Suspected Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 46:1, s. 261-269
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Amyloid-beta (A beta(1-42)), total tau (T-tau), and phosphorylated tau (P-tau(181)) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are the most promising biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Still, little is known about the dynamics of these molecules in the living brain. In a transgenic mouse brain, soluble A beta decreases with increasing age and advanced A beta pathology as seen similarly in CSF. Objective: To assess the relationship between AD-related pathological changes in human brain tissue, ventricular and lumbar CSF, and brain interstitial fluid (ISF). Methods: Altogether 11 patients with suspected idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus underwent frontal cortical brain biopsy, 24-h intraventricular pressure monitoring, and a microdialysis procedure. AD-related biomarkers were analyzed from brain tissue, CSF, and ISF. Results: ISF T-tau levels decreased strongly within the first 12 h, then plateauing until the end of the experiment. A beta(1-42) and P-tau(181) remained stable during the experiment (n = 3). T-tau and P-tau were higher in the ISF than in ventricular or lumbar CSF, while A beta(1-42) levels were within similar range in both CSF and ISF samples. ISF P-tau correlated with the ventricular CSF T-tau (r = 0.70, p = 0.017) and P-tau(181) (r = 0.64, p = 0.034). Five patients with amyloid pathology in the brain biopsy tended to reveal lower ISF A beta(1-42) levels than those six without amyloid pathology. Conclusions: This is the first study to report ISF A beta and tau levels in the human brain without significant brain injury. The set-up used enables sampling from the brain ISF for at least 24 h without causing adverse effects due to the microdialysis procedure to follow the dynamics of the key molecules in AD pathogenesis in the living brain at various stages of the disease.
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| 5. |
- Koivisto, Anne M., et al.
(författare)
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High Risk of Dementia in Ventricular Enlargement with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Related Symptoms
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 52:2, s. 497-507
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Differential diagnosis of ventricular enlargement with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) related symptoms is challenging. Patients with enlarged ventricles often manifest cognitive deterioration but their long-term outcome is not well known. Objectives: We aim to evaluate long-term cognitive outcome in patients with enlarged ventricles and clinically suspected NPH. Methods: A neurologist and a neurosurgeon clinically evaluated 468 patients with enlarged ventricles and suspected NPH using radiological methods, intraventricular pressure monitoring, and frontal cortical brain biopsy. The neurologist confirmed final diagnoses after a median follow-up interval of 4.8 years. Results: Altogether, 232 patients (50%) with enlarged ventricles did not fulfill the criteria for shunt surgery. The incidence of dementia among patients with enlarged ventricles, and at least one NPH-related symptom with adequate follow-up data (n = 446) was high, varying from 77 (iNPH, shunt responders) to 141/1000 person-years (non-shunted patients with enlarged ventricles). At the end of the follow-up, 59% of all these patients were demented. The demented population comprised 73% of non-shunted patients with enlarged ventricles, 63% of shunted iNPH patients that did not respond to treatment, and 46% of iNPH patients that were initially responsive to shunting. The most common cause of dementia was Alzheimer's disease (n = 94, 36%), followed by vascular dementia (n= 68, 26%). Conclusions: One-half of patients with enlarged ventricles and clinically suspected NPH were not shunted after intraventricular pressure monitoring. Dementia caused by various neurodegenerative diseases was frequently seen in patients with ventricular enlargement. Thus, careful diagnostic evaluation in collaboration with neurologists and neurosurgeons is emphasized.
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| 6. |
- Laitera, Tiina, et al.
(författare)
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The Expression of Transthyretin and Amyloid-beta Protein Precursor is Altered in the Brain of Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Patients
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 48:4, s. 959-968
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a dementing condition in which Alzheimer's disease (AD)related amyloid-beta (A beta) plaques are frequently observed in the neocortex. iNPH patients with prominent A beta pathology show AD-related alterations in amyloid-beta protein precursor (A beta PP) processing resulting from increased gamma-secretase activity. Objectives: Our goal was to assess potential alterations in the global gene expression profile in the brain of iNPH patients as compared to non-demented controls and to evaluate the levels of the identified targets in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of iNPH patients. Methods: The genome-wide expression profile of similar to 35,000 probes was assessed in the RNA samples obtained from 22 iNPH patients and eight non-demented control subjects using a microarray chip. The soluble levels of sA beta PP alpha, sA beta PP beta, and transthyretin (TTR) were measured from the CSF of 102 iNPH patients using ELISA. Results: After correcting the results for multiple testing, significant differences in the expression of TTR and A beta PP were observed between iNPH and control subjects. The mRNA levels of TTR were on average 17-fold lower in iNPH samples compared to control samples. Conversely, the expression level of A beta PP was on average three times higher in iNPH samples as compared to control samples. Interestingly, the expression of beta-secretase (ADAM10) was also increased in iNPH patients. In the lumbar CSF samples, soluble TTR levels showed a significant positive correlation with sA beta PP alpha and sA beta PP beta, but TTR levels did not predict the brain pathology or the shunt response. Conclusions: These findings suggest differences in the expression profile of key factors involved in AD-related cellular events in the brain of iNPH patients.
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| 7. |
- Laiterä, Tiina, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of Alzheimer's Disease-Associated Risk Loci on Amyloid-β Accumulation in the Brain of Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Patients
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 55:3, s. 995-1003
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a dementing condition featuring characteristic symptoms, ventriculomegaly, and normal or slightly elevated cerebrospinal fluid pressure. In Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, diffuse aggregates of amyloid-β (Aβ) and neurofibrillary hyperphosphorylated tau are detected in the neocortex of the brain, while similar accumulation of Aβ is also detected in iNPH. Recent genome-wide association studies have identified several novel risk loci for AD, potentially affecting Aβ-related cellular processes. Apart from the apolipoprotein E ɛ4 allele (APOE4), the risk effect of single loci is low, emphasizing the importance of the polygenic risk score approach when assessing the combined effects.OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of AD-associated individual and polygenic risk score of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on the accumulation of Aβ in the brain samples of iNPH patients.METHODS: A sample set of frontal cortex biopsies from 188 iNPH patients were divided into two groups according to the Aβ pathology. After the genotyping of the AD-associated risk loci, polygenic risk score was calculated for each iNPH patient and subsequently analyzed in relation to Aβ deposition.RESULTS: Apart from the APOE4, none of the SNPs revealed a statistically significant effect on the accumulation of Aβ in iNPH. Also, the non-APOE4 polygenic risk score did not associate with Aβ deposition.CONCLUSION: Novel AD-associated risk genes have no significant effect on Aβ accumulation in the brain of iNPH patients. However, APOE4 affects the Aβ deposition in the brain of iNPH and AD patients in a similar manner.
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| 8. |
- Leino, Marina, et al.
(författare)
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Transactive DNA Binding Protein 43 Rather Than Other Misfolded Proteins in the Brain is Associated with Islet Amyloid Polypeptide in Pancreas in Aged Subjects with Diabetes Mellitus
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - : IOS Press. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 59:1, s. 43-56
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A link between diabetes mellitus (DM) related islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) related amyloid-beta (A beta) has been suggested in epidemiological and clinical studies. In 2017, proof for existing interaction between type 2 DM and AD on a molecular level was provided based on research carried out in experimental animal models. We assessed aging-related neurodegenerative lesions, i.e., misfolded proteins, associated with dementia such as hyperphosphorylated tau (HP tau), A beta, alpha-synuclein (alpha S), and phosphorylated transactive DNA binding protein 43 (pTDP43) seen in the brain and IAPP seen in the pancreas in subjects with and without DM applying immunohistochemical techniques. HP tau in the brain and IAPP in the pancreas were observed in most subjects. The prevalence and the extent of all misfolded proteins increased with age but this increase was not influenced by DM. Interestingly the extent of misfolded proteins in the brain was higher in non-diabetics when compared with diabetics in demented. A significant correlation was observed between HP tau, A beta, alpha S, and pTDP43, whereas IAPP showed no association with HP tau, A beta, and alpha S. In subjects with DM, the extent of pTDP43 in brain correlated with the extent of IAPP in pancreas. Thus, there is no evidence of a link between AD-related pathology and DM in humans, whereas an association was found between pTDP43 and IAPP in DM. TDP43 is ubiquitously expressed in all organs but whether TDP43 is phosphorylated in other organs in DM or whether the phosphorylation of TDP43 is influenced by glucose metabolism is yet unknown.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Libard, Sylwia, et al.
(författare)
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In vivo Characterization of Biochemical Variants of Amyloid-beta in Subjects with Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus and Alzheimer's Disease Neuropathological Change
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - : IOS Press. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 80:3, s. 1003-1012
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Stepwise occurrence of biochemically modified amyloid-beta (A beta) in the brain of subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been suggested to be of significance for cognitive impairment. Our previous reports have shown that A beta is observed in 63% of all subjects with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) suggesting that the majority of iNPH subjects with A beta are indeed also suffering from AD.Objective: We assessed the occurrence of biochemically modified A beta variants, in vivo, in subjects with iNPH and in a cohort of postmortem brain samples from patients with dementia.Methods: We assessed A beta proteins in 127 diagnostic brain biopsies obtained from subjects with iNPH and in a cohort of subjects with dementia by means of immunohistochemistry.Results: The pyroglutamylated A beta (pyA beta) precedes the aggregation of phosphorylated A beta (pA beta) during the AD neuropatho-logical change progression; moreover, these modified variants of A beta correlate with hyperphosphorylated tau in the frontal cortical area of human brain. Our results confirm the existence of the suggested biochemical stages of A beta aggregation that might be of significance for neurodegeneration leading to cognitive impairment.Conclusion: The observation that both pyA beta and pA beta are seen in vivo in iNPH subjects is intriguing. It has been reported that most of the iNPH subjects with A beta in the brain biopsy indeed develop AD with time. Based on our current and previous results, it is clinically merited to obtain a diagnostic biopsy from a subject with iNPH. When A beta is observed in the biopsy, the biochemical characterization is of interest.
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