Journal of Alzheimer's Disease - Volume 43, issue 3

Authors: Ferreira, Daniel | Westman, Eric | Eyjolfsdottir, Helga | Almqvist, Per | Lind, Göran | Linderoth, Bengt | Seiger, Åke | Blennow, Kaj | Karami, Azadeh | Darreh-Shori, Taher | Wiberg, Maria | Simmons, Andrew | Wahlund, Lars-Olof | Wahlberg, Lars | Eriksdotter, Maria | for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: New therapies with disease-modifying effects are urgently needed for treating Alzheimer's disease (AD). Nerve growth factor (NGF) protein has demonstrated regenerative and neuroprotective effects on basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in animal studies. In addition, AD patients treated with NGF have previously shown improved cognition, EEG activity, nicotinic binding, and glucose metabolism. However, no study to date has analyzed brain atrophy in patients treated with NGF producing cells. In this study we present MRI results of the first clinical trial in patients with AD using encapsulated NGF biodelivery to the basal forebrain. Six AD patients received the treatment during twelve months. …Patients were grouped as responders and non-responders according to their twelve-months change in MMSE. Normative values were created from 131 AD patients from ADNI, selecting 36 age- and MMSE-matched patients for interpreting the longitudinal changes in MMSE and brain atrophy. Results at baseline indicated that responders showed better clinical status and less pathological levels of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ1-42 . However, they showed more brain atrophy, and neuronal degeneration as evidenced by higher CSF levels of T-tau and neurofilaments. At follow-up, responders showed less brain shrinkage and better progression in the clinical variables and CSF biomarkers. Noteworthy, two responders showed less brain shrinkage than the normative ADNI group. These results together with previous evidence supports the idea that encapsulated biodelivery of NGF might have the potential to become a new treatment strategy for AD with both symptomatic and disease-modifying effects. Show more

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, clinical progression, clinical trial, encapsulated cell biodelivery, nerve growth factor, neurofilaments, structural MRI, ADNI, brain changes

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-141068

Citation: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 1059-1072, 2015

Authors: Scheff, Stephen W. | Price, Douglas A. | Ansari, Mubeen A. | Roberts, Kelly N. | Schmitt, Frederick A. | Ikonomovic, Milos D. | Mufson, Elliott J.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered to be an early stage in the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) providing an opportunity to investigate brain pathogenesis prior to the onset of dementia. Neuroimaging studies have identified the posterior cingulate gyrus (PostC) as a cortical region affected early in the onset of AD. This association cortex is involved in a variety of different cognitive tasks and is intimately connected with the hippocampal/entorhinal cortex region, a component of the medial temporal memory circuit that displays early AD pathology. We quantified the total number of synapses in lamina 3 of the PostC using unbiased …stereology coupled with electron microscopy from short postmortem autopsy tissue harvested from cases at different stage of AD progression. Individuals in the early stages of AD showed a significant decline in synaptic numbers compared to individuals with no cognitive impairment (NCI). Subjects with MCI exhibited synaptic numbers that were between the AD and NCI cohorts. Adjacent tissue was evaluated for changes in both pre and postsynaptic proteins levels. Individuals with MCI demonstrated a significant loss in presynaptic markers synapsin-1 and synaptophysin and postsynaptic markers PSD-95 and SAP-97. Levels of [3 H]PiB binding was significantly increased in MCI and AD and correlated strongly with levels of synaptic proteins. All synaptic markers showed a significant association with Mini-Mental Status Examination scores. These results support the idea that the PostC synaptic function is affected during the prodromal stage of the disease and may underlie some of the early clinical sequelae associated with AD. Show more

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, dementia, memory, mild cognitive impairment, synapses

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-141518

Citation: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 1073-1090, 2015

Article Type: Book Review

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-142697

Citation: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 1091-1092, 2015

Article Type: Other

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-141519

Citation: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 43, no. 3, pp. 1093-1095, 2015