Expression of p75^NTR, a Marker for Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Neurons, in Young and Aged Dogs with or without Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Insua, Daniel^{a; b} | Corredoira, Angélica^a | González-Martínez, Ángela^a | Suárez, María-Luisa^a | Santamarina, Germán^a | Sarasa, Manuel^b | Pesini, Pedro^{b; *}

Affiliations: [a] Departamento de Ciencias Clínicas Veterinarias, Facultad de Veterinaria de Lugo, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Spain | [b] Araclon Biotech Ltd., Zaragoza, Spain

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Pedro Pesini, Araclon Biotech Ltd., Franz Shubert 2, Zaragoza 50012, Spain. E-mail: pedropesini@araclon.com.

Abstract: The canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) has been identified as a natural model for Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have used unbiased stereology to estimate the total number of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons expressing the nerve growth factor p75NTR receptor in young, aged cognitively-unimpaired (CU) and aged cognitively-impaired (CI) dogs. Aged-CI dogs showed a ∼20% decrement (p = 0.009) in p75NTR neurons compared to both the young and the aged-CU animals. These results suggest that the basal forebrain cholinergic system is affected in dogs with CDS and provide additional support for the use this canine syndrome as a model for AD research.

Keywords: Aging, Alzheimer's disease, basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCN), p75^NTR, unbiased stereology

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-2011-110905

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 291-296, 2012