Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Are Associated with Amyloid-β₄₂ Burden in Alzheimer’s Disease

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Rocha, Natalia P.^{a; b; *} | Toledo, Andre^c | Corgosinho, Laiane T.S.^a | de Souza, Leonardo C.^{a; c} | Guimarães, Henrique C.^c | Resende, Elisa P.F.^{c; d} | Braz, Nayara F.T.^a | Gomes, Karina B.^e | Simoes e Silva, Ana C.^a | Caramelli, Paulo^c | Teixeira, Antonio L.^{a; b}

Affiliations: [a] Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Investigação Médica (LIIM), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil | [b] Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Neuropsychiatry Program, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, TX, USA | [c] Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology Unit, Departamento de Clínica Médica, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil | [d] Global Brain Health Institute, The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Memory and Aging Center, San Francisco, CA, USA | [e] Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Natalia P. Rocha, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, McGovern Medical School, BBSB 3270, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 1941 East Road, Houston, TX 77054, USA. Tel.: +1 713 486 2622; E-mails: npessoarocha@gmail.com and Natalia.PessoaRocha@uth.tmc.edu..

Abstract: This study was designed to determine whether the levels of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) components are associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. Cerebrospinal fluid levels of Angiotensin (Ang) II, Ang-(1-7), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), ACE2, Amyloid-β (Aβ)40, Aβ42, total tau (hTau), and phospho-tau (pTau) were measured in 18 patients with AD and 10 controls. Patients with AD presented decreased levels of ACE when compared with controls. We found a significant positive correlation between ACE and Aβ42 levels among patients. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that ACE is associated with Aβ pathology in AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid-beta, angiotensin-converting enzyme, biomarkers, renin-angiotensin system

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-180282

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 1085-1090, 2018