Regional differences in Alzheimer’s disease pathology confound behavioural rescue after amyloid-β attenuation


BIBLIOGRAPHIC THERAPEUTIC AGENT ANIMAL MODEL EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN OUTCOMES

Bibliographic

Year of Publication:
2020
Contact PI Name:
Christopher D. Morrone
Contact PI Affiliation:
Sunnybrook Research Institute, Biological Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Co-Authors:
Paolo Bazzigaluppi, Tina L. Beckett, Mary E. Hill, Margaret M. Koletar, Bojana Stefanovic, JoAnne McLaurin
Primary Reference (PubMED ID):
Funding Source:
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging
Ontario Graduate Scholarship
Study Goal and Principal Findings:

Failure of Alzheimer’s disease clinical trials to improve or stabilize cognition has led to the need for a better understanding of the driving forces behind cognitive decline in the presence of active disease processes. To dissect contributions of individual pathologies to cognitive function, we used the TgF344-AD rat model, which recapitulates the salient hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease pathology observed in patient populations (amyloid, tau inclusions, frank neuronal loss, and cognitive deficits). scyllo-Inositol treatment attenuated amyloid-β peptide in disease-bearing TgF344-AD rats, which rescued pattern separation in the novel object recognition task and executive function in the reversal learning phase of the Barnes maze. Interestingly, neither activities of daily living in the burrowing task nor spatial memory in the Barnes maze were rescued by attenuating amyloid-β peptide. To understand the pathological correlates leading to behavioural rescue, we examined the neuropathology and in vivo electrophysiological signature of the hippocampus. Amyloid-β peptide attenuation reduced hippocampal tau pathology and rescued adult hippocampal neurogenesis and neuronal function, via improvements in cross-frequency coupling between theta and gamma bands. To investigate mechanisms underlying the persistence of spatial memory deficits, we next examined neuropathology in the entorhinal cortex, a region whose input to the hippocampus is required for spatial memory. Reduction of amyloid-b peptide in the entorhinal cortex had no effect on entorhinal tau pathology or entorhinal-hippocampal neuronal network dysfunction, as measured by an impairment in hippocampal response to entorhinal stimulation. Thus, rescue or not of cognitive function is dependent on regional differences of amyloid-β, tau and neuronal network dysfunction, demonstrating the importance of staging disease in patients prior to enrolment in clinical trials. These results further emphasize the need for combination therapeutic approaches across disease progression.

Therapeutic Agent

Therapeutic Information:
Therapy Type:
Small Molecule
Therapeutic Agent:
Scyllo-Inositol
Therapeutic Target:
beta Amyloid Peptide

Animal Model

Model Information:
Species:
Rat
Model Type:
APPxPS1
Strain/Genetic Background:
Fischer 344

Experimental Design

Is the following information reported in the study?:
Power/Sample Size Calculation
Randomized into Groups
Blinded for Treatment
Blinded for Outcome Measures
Pharmacokinetic Measures
Pharmacodynamic Measures
Toxicology Measures
ADME Measures
Biomarkers
Dose
Formulation
Route of Delivery
Duration of Treatment
Frequency of Administration
Age of Animal at the Beginning of Treatment
Age of Animal at the End of Treatment
Sex as a Biological Variable
Study Balanced for Sex as a Biological Variable
Number of Premature Deaths
Number of Excluded Animals
Statistical Plan
Genetic Background
Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria Included
Conflict of Interest
Experiment Notes

Data were excluded from the novel object recognition dataset: 18 rats spread across all four cohorts were excluded from analysis for task non-performance (i.e. not investigating the objects in the test phase). No other data exclusions were made, nor were outliers removed.

Outcomes

Outcome Measured
Outcome Parameters
Behavioral
Barnes Maze
Burrowing Test
Exploratory Activity
Novel Object Recognition Test (NORT)
Open Field Test
Histopathology
beta Amyloid Deposits
beta Amyloid Load
Colocalization-Astrocytes/Microglia/Amyloid Plaques
Dystrophic Neurites
Neurodegeneration
PHF Tau
phospho-Tau
Tau Pathology
Immunochemistry
5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine (BrdU)
5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine (EdU)
Amyloid Plaque Size
Brain-beta Amyloid Deposits
Cell Proliferation
Doublecortin (DCX)
Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP)
Ionized Calcium Binding Adaptor Molecule 1 (Iba1)
Neurogenesis
Neuronal Marker NeuN
PHF Tau
phospho-Tau
Microscopy
Cell Count
Cell Survival
Neuronal Density
Stereology
Biomarker
Plasma-beta Amyloid Peptide 40
Plasma-beta Amyloid Peptide 42
Electrophysiology
Current Density
Current-Voltage (I-V) Curve
Local Field Potentials (LFPs)
Pharmacodynamics
Target Engagement (Reduction Amyloid Load)
Target Engagement (Reduction beta Amyloid Deposits)

Source URL: http://alzped.nia.nih.gov/regional-differences-alzheimer