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Madeira C, Lourenco MV, Vargas-Lopes C, Suemoto CK, Brandão CO, Reis T, Leite REP, Laks J, Jacob-Filho W, Pasqualucci CA, Grinberg LT, Ferreira ST, Panizzutti R. d-serine levels in Alzheimer's disease: implications for novel biomarker development. Transl Psychiatry 2015; 5:e561. [PMID: 25942042 PMCID: PMC4471283 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2015.52] [Citation(s) in RCA: 158] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2014] [Revised: 01/19/2015] [Accepted: 02/08/2015] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a severe neurodegenerative disorder still in search of effective methods of diagnosis. Altered levels of the NMDA receptor co-agonist, d-serine, have been associated with neurological disorders, including schizophrenia and epilepsy. However, whether d-serine levels are deregulated in AD remains elusive. Here, we first measured D-serine levels in post-mortem hippocampal and cortical samples from nondemented subjects (n=8) and AD patients (n=14). We next determined d-serine levels in experimental models of AD, including wild-type rats and mice that received intracerebroventricular injections of amyloid-β oligomers, and APP/PS1 transgenic mice. Finally, we assessed d-serine levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 21 patients with a diagnosis of probable AD, as compared with patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus (n=9), major depression (n=9) and healthy controls (n=10), and results were contrasted with CSF amyloid-β/tau AD biomarkers. d-serine levels were higher in the hippocampus and parietal cortex of AD patients than in control subjects. Levels of both d-serine and serine racemase, the enzyme responsible for d-serine production, were elevated in experimental models of AD. Significantly, d-serine levels were higher in the CSF of probable AD patients than in non-cognitively impaired subject groups. Combining d-serine levels to the amyloid/tau index remarkably increased the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis of probable AD in our cohort. Our results show that increased brain and CSF d-serine levels are associated with AD. CSF d-serine levels discriminated between nondemented and AD patients in our cohort and might constitute a novel candidate biomarker for early AD diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Madeira
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - M V Lourenco
- Institute of Medical Biochemistry Leopoldo de Meis, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - C Vargas-Lopes
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - C K Suemoto
- Discipline of Geriatrics, University of São Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - C O Brandão
- Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - T Reis
- Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - R E P Leite
- Department of Pathology, University of São Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - J Laks
- Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - W Jacob-Filho
- Discipline of Geriatrics, University of São Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - C A Pasqualucci
- Department of Pathology, University of São Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - L T Grinberg
- Department of Pathology, University of São Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - S T Ferreira
- Institute of Medical Biochemistry Leopoldo de Meis, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Institute of Biophysics Carlos Chagas Filho, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - R Panizzutti
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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