PubMed · 12876984
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Keiichiro Tsuji, Osamu Tajima. 2003. [Cyclothymia].. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12876984/
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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the presence of toxic protein aggregates or plaques composed of the amyloid β (Aβ) peptide. Various lengths of Aβ peptide are generated by proteolytic cleavages of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). Mutations in many familial AD-associated genes affect the production of the longer Aβ42 variant that preferentially accumulates in plaques. In the case of sporadic or late-onset AD, which accounts for greater than 95% of cases, several genes are implicated in increasing the risk, but whether they also cause the disease by altering amyloid levels is currently unknown. Through loss of function studies in a model cell line, here RNAi-mediated silencing of several late onset AD genes affected Aβ levels is shown. However, unlike the genes underlying familial AD, late onset AD-susceptibility genes do not specifically alter the Aβ42/40 ratios and suggest that these genes probably contribute to AD through distinct mechanisms.
BACKGROUND: The order and magnitude of pathologic processes in Alzheimer's disease are not well understood, partly because the disease develops over many years. Autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease has a predictable age at onset and provides an opportunity to determine the sequence and magnitude of pathologic changes that culminate in symptomatic disease. METHODS: In this prospective, longitudinal study, we analyzed data from 128 participants who underwent baseline clinical and cognitive assessments, brain imaging, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood tests. We used the participant's age at baseline assessment and the parent's age at the onset of symptoms of Alzheimer's disease to calculate the estimated years from expected symptom onset (age of the participant minus parent's age at symptom onset). We conducted cross-sectional analyses of baseline data in relation to estimated years from expected symptom onset in order to determine the relative order and magnitude of pathophysiological changes. RESULTS: Concentrations of amyloid-beta (Aβ)(42) in the CSF appeared to decline 25 years before expected symptom onset. Aβ deposition, as measured by positron-emission tomography with the use of Pittsburgh compound B, was detected 15 years before expected symptom onset. Increased concentrations of tau protein in the CSF and an increase in brain atrophy were detected 15 years before expected symptom onset. Cerebral hypometabolism and impaired episodic memory were observed 10 years before expected symptom onset. Global cognitive impairment, as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Clinical Dementia Rating scale, was detected 5 years before expected symptom onset, and patients met diagnostic criteria for dementia at an average of 3 years after expected symptom onset. CONCLUSIONS: We found that autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease was associated with a series of pathophysiological changes over decades in CSF biochemical markers of Alzheimer's disease, brain amyloid deposition, and brain metabolism as well as progressive cognitive impairment. Our results require confirmation with the use of longitudinal data and may not apply to patients with sporadic Alzheimer's disease. (Funded by the National Institute on Aging and others; DIAN ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00869817.).
Childhood-onset mood disorders (COMD) are often familial, and twin studies of COMD provide compelling evidence that genetic factors are involved. Deficits in neural plasticity have been suggested to underlie the development of depression. The receptor tropomyosin related kinase B (TrkB) and its ligand, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), play essential roles in neural plasticity, and mRNA expression of both of these genes has been shown to be influenced by stress and chronic antidepressant treatment. In addition, TrkB knock-out mice display inappropriate stress coping mechanisms. Having previously shown that BDNF is associated with COMD, in this study we investigated the gene encoding TrkB, neurotrophic tyrosine kinase, receptor, type 2 (NTRK2) as a susceptibility factor in COMD. We tested for association of NTRK2 with COMD in two independent samples: (a) a case-control sample matched on ethnicity and gender, consisting of 120 cases who met DSM III/IV criteria for major depressive or dysthymic disorder before age 14 or bipolar I/II before the age of 18, and controls, and (b) a family based control sample of 113 families collected in Hungary, identified by a proband between the age of 7 and 14 who met DSM IV criteria for major depressive disorder or bipolar I/II disorder. There was no evidence for an allelic or genotypic association of three polymorphisms of NTRK2 with COMD in the case-control sample. Also, in the family based sample, using the transmission disequilibrium test (TDT), we did not identify any evidence of allelic association for each marker individually or when haplotypes were analyzed. Based on these results, using these three polymorphisms, we do not find support for NTRK2 as a susceptibility gene for COMD.