1
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Abutarboush R, Reed E, Chen Y, Gu M, Watson C, Kawoos U, Statz JK, Tschiffely AE, Ciarlone S, Perez-Garcia G, Gama Sosa MA, de Gasperi R, Stone JR, Elder GA, Ahlers ST. Exposure to Low-Intensity Blast Increases Clearance of Brain Amyloid Beta. J Neurotrauma 2024; 41:685-704. [PMID: 38183627 DOI: 10.1089/neu.2023.0284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2024] Open
Abstract
The long-term effects of exposure to blast overpressure are an important health concern in military personnel. Increase in amyloid beta (Aβ) has been documented after non-blast traumatic brain injury (TBI) and may contribute to neuropathology and an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease. We have shown that Aβ levels decrease following exposure to a low-intensity blast overpressure event. To further explore this observation, we examined the effects of a single 37 kPa (5.4 psi) blast exposure on brain Aβ levels, production, and clearance mechanisms in the acute (24 h) and delayed (28 days) phases post-blast exposure in an experimental rat model. Aβ and, notably, the highly neurotoxic detergent soluble Aβ42 form, was reduced at 24 h but not 28 days after blast exposure. This reduction was not associated with changes in the levels of Aβ oligomers, expression levels of amyloid precursor protein (APP), or increase in enzymes involved in the amyloidogenic cleavage of APP, the β- and ϒ-secretases BACE1 and presenilin-1, respectively. The levels of ADAM17 α-secretase (also known as tumor necrosis factor α-converting enzyme) decreased, concomitant with the reduction in brain Aβ. Additionally, significant increases in brain levels of the endothelial transporter, low-density related protein 1 (LRP1), and enhancement in co-localization of aquaporin-4 (AQP4) to perivascular astrocytic end-feet were observed 24 h after blast exposure. These findings suggest that exposure to low-intensity blast may enhance endothelial clearance of Aβ by LRP1-mediated transcytosis and alter AQP4-aided glymphatic clearance. Collectively, the data demonstrate that low-intensity blast alters enzymatic, transvascular, and perivascular clearance of Aβ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rania Abutarboush
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Eileen Reed
- Parsons Corporation, Centreville, Virginia, USA
| | - Ye Chen
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Ming Gu
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Usmah Kawoos
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Jonathan K Statz
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Anna E Tschiffely
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
| | - Stephanie Ciarlone
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Georgina Perez-Garcia
- Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Research and Development Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Miguel A Gama Sosa
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- General Medical Research Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Rita de Gasperi
- Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
| | - James R Stone
- Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Gregory A Elder
- Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA
- Neurology Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
| | - Stephen T Ahlers
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
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2
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Perez Garcia G, De Gasperi R, Tschiffely AE, Gama Sosa MA, Abutarboush R, Kawoos U, Statz JK, Ciarlone S, Reed EM, Jeyarajah T, Perez G, Otero Pagan A, Pryor D, Hof P, Cook D, Gandy S, Elder G, Ahlers S. Repetitive low-level blast exposure improves behavioral deficits and chronically lowers Aβ42 in an Alzheimer's disease transgenic mouse model. J Neurotrauma 2021; 38:3146-3173. [PMID: 34353119 DOI: 10.1089/neu.2021.0184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Public awareness of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the military increased recently because of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan where blast injury was the most common mechanism of injury. Besides overt injuries, concerns also exist over the potential adverse consequences of subclinical blast exposures, which are common for many service members. TBI is a risk factor for the later development of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like disorders. Studies of acute TBI in humans and animals have suggested that increased processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) towards the amyloid beta protein (Aβ) may explain the epidemiological associations with AD. However, in a prior study we found in both rat and mouse models of blast overpressure exposure (BOP), that rather than increasing, rodent brain Aβ42 levels were decreased following acute blast exposure. Here we subjected APP/presenilin 1 transgenic mice (APP/PS1 Tg) to an extended sequence of repetitive low-level blast exposures (34.5 kPa) administered three times per week over 8 weeks. If initiated at 20 weeks of age, these repetitive exposures, which were designed to mimic human subclinical blast exposures, reduced anxiety and improved cognition as well as social interactions in APP/PS1 Tg mice, returning many behavioral parameters in APP/PS1 Tg mice to levels of non-transgenic wild type mice. Repetitive low-level blast exposure was less effective at improving behavioral deficits in APP/PS1 Tg mice when begun at 36 weeks of age. While amyloid plaque loads were unchanged, Aβ42 levels and Aβ oligomers were reduced in brain of mice exposed to repetitive low-level blast exposures initiated at 20 weeks of age, although levels did not directly correlate with behavioral parameters in individual animals. These results have implications for understanding the nature of blast effects on the brain and their relationship to human neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgina Perez Garcia
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 5925, Neurology, 1468 Madison Avenue Annenberg Building Floor 14 Room 60, New York, New York, New York, United States, 10029-6574.,James J Peters VA Medical Center, 20071, Research, 130 W Kingsbridge Rd, The Bronx, NY 10468, Bronx, United States, 10468-3904;
| | - Rita De Gasperi
- James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Research and Development, 130 west kingsbridge road, RD 3F-20, Bronx, New York, United States, 10468;
| | - Anna E Tschiffely
- Naval Medical Research Center, 19930, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States;
| | - Miguel A Gama Sosa
- James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Research and Development, 130 W Kingsbridge Rd, Bronx, New York, United States, 10468;
| | - Rania Abutarboush
- Naval Medical Research Center, 19930, Neurotrauma, 503 Robert Grant Ave, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, 20910;
| | - Usmah Kawoos
- Naval Medical Research Center, 19930, Neurotrauma, 503 Robert Grant Ave, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, 20910.,Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc, 44069, Bethesda, Maryland, United States;
| | | | - Stephanie Ciarlone
- Naval Medical Research Center, 19930, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States;
| | - Eileen M Reed
- Naval Medical Research Center, 19930, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States;
| | - Theepica Jeyarajah
- Naval Medical Research Center, 19930, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States;
| | - Gissel Perez
- James J Peters VA Medical Center, 20071, Research and Development, Bronx, New York, United States;
| | - Alena Otero Pagan
- James J Peters VA Medical Center, 20071, Research and Development, Bronx, New York, United States;
| | - Dylan Pryor
- James J Peters VA Medical Center, 20071, Research, 130 W. Kingsbridge Rd., Bronx, New York, United States, 10468;
| | - Patrick Hof
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 5925, New York, New York, United States;
| | - David Cook
- VA Puget Sound Health Care System, 20128, Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, 1660 S Columbian Way, Seattle, Washington, United States, 98108.,University of Washington, 7284, Division of Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Seattle, Washington, United States;
| | - Samuel Gandy
- 88 Mercer AvenueHartsdaleHartsdale, New York, United States, 10530.,Sam Gandy, 88 Mercer Avenue, United States;
| | - Gregory Elder
- James J. Peters VAMC, Research and Development 3F22, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, New York, United States, 10468;
| | - Stephen Ahlers
- Naval Medical Research Center, OUMD, 503 Robert Grant Ave, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States, 20910;
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3
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Blaze J, Choi I, Wang Z, Umali M, Mendelev N, Tschiffely AE, Ahlers ST, Elder GA, Ge Y, Haghighi F. Blast-Related Mild TBI Alters Anxiety-Like Behavior and Transcriptional Signatures in the Rat Amygdala. Front Behav Neurosci 2020; 14:160. [PMID: 33192359 PMCID: PMC7604767 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.00160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The short and long-term neurological and psychological consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI), and especially mild TBI (mTBI) are of immense interest to the Veteran community. mTBI is a common and detrimental result of combat exposure and results in various deleterious outcomes, including mood and anxiety disorders, cognitive deficits, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the current study, we aimed to further define the behavioral and molecular effects of blast-related mTBI using a well-established (3 × 75 kPa, one per day on three consecutive days) repeated blast overpressure (rBOP) model in rats. We exposed adult male rats to the rBOP procedure and conducted behavioral tests for anxiety and fear conditioning at 1-1.5 months (sub-acute) or 12-13 months (chronic) following blast exposure. We also used next-generation sequencing to measure transcriptome-wide gene expression in the amygdala of sham and blast-exposed animals at the sub-acute and chronic time points. Results showed that blast-exposed animals exhibited an anxiety-like phenotype at the sub-acute timepoint but this phenotype was diminished by the chronic time point. Conversely, gene expression analysis at both sub-acute and chronic timepoints demonstrated a large treatment by timepoint interaction such that the most differentially expressed genes were present in the blast-exposed animals at the chronic time point, which also corresponded to a Bdnf-centric gene network. Overall, the current study identified changes in the amygdalar transcriptome and anxiety-related phenotypic outcomes dependent on both blast exposure and aging, which may play a role in the long-term pathological consequences of mTBI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Blaze
- Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.,Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Inbae Choi
- Research and Development Service, James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United States
| | - Zhaoyu Wang
- Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.,Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Michelle Umali
- Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.,Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Natalia Mendelev
- Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.,Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Anna E Tschiffely
- Department of Neurotrauma, Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD, United States
| | - Stephen T Ahlers
- Department of Neurotrauma, Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD, United States
| | - Gregory A Elder
- Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.,Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.,Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.,Neurology Service, James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United States
| | - Yongchao Ge
- Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Fatemeh Haghighi
- Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.,Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.,Research and Development Service, James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY, United States.,Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
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4
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Edwards KA, Leete JJ, Tschiffely AE, Moore CY, Dell KC, Statz JK, Carr W, Walker PB, LoPresti ML, Ahlers ST, Yarnell AM, Gill J. Blast exposure results in tau and neurofilament light chain changes in peripheral blood. Brain Inj 2020; 34:1213-1221. [DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2020.1797171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Katie A. Edwards
- National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Jacqueline J. Leete
- National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Anna E. Tschiffely
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Candace Y. Moore
- National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Kristine C. Dell
- Department of Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Jonathan K. Statz
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Walter Carr
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, TN, USA
| | - Peter B. Walker
- Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, Arlington, VA, USA
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
- Military Emergency Medicine Department, Uniformed Services, University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Matthew L. LoPresti
- Center for Military Psychiatry & Neuroscience, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Stephen T. Ahlers
- Operational & Undersea Medicine Directorate, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Angela M. Yarnell
- Operational & Undersea Medicine Directorate, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Jessica Gill
- National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA
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5
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Ciarlone SL, Statz JK, Goodrich JA, Norris JN, Goforth CW, Ahlers ST, Tschiffely AE. Neuroendocrine function and associated mental health outcomes following mild traumatic brain injury in OEF‐deployed service members. J Neurosci Res 2020; 98:1174-1187. [DOI: 10.1002/jnr.24604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2019] [Revised: 01/31/2020] [Accepted: 02/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie L. Ciarlone
- Neurotrauma Department Naval Medical Research Center Silver Spring MD USA
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation Inc. Bethesda MD USA
| | - Jonathan K. Statz
- Neurotrauma Department Naval Medical Research Center Silver Spring MD USA
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation Inc. Bethesda MD USA
| | - Jessica A. Goodrich
- Neurotrauma Department Naval Medical Research Center Silver Spring MD USA
- The Henry M. Jackson Foundation Inc. Bethesda MD USA
| | - Jacob N. Norris
- Cyber, Science, & Technology Department Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific San Diego CA USA
| | - Carl W. Goforth
- Neurotrauma Department Naval Medical Research Center Silver Spring MD USA
- Department of Surgery Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Bethesda MD USA
| | - Stephen T. Ahlers
- Neurotrauma Department Naval Medical Research Center Silver Spring MD USA
| | - Anna E. Tschiffely
- Neurotrauma Department Naval Medical Research Center Silver Spring MD USA
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6
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Tschiffely AE, Statz JK, Edwards KA, Goforth C, Ahlers ST, Carr WS, Gill JM. Assessing a Blast-Related Biomarker in an Operational Community: Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein in Experienced Breachers. J Neurotrauma 2020; 37:1091-1096. [PMID: 31642374 DOI: 10.1089/neu.2019.6512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a risk for military personnel due to blast overpressures, which may result from a variety of sources, including artillery and improvised explosive devices. Much research has gone into the search for a biomarker to identify patients with a TBI. The FDA recently identified two proteins, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 (UCH-L1), as biomarkers to evaluate suspected brain injury. Our group previously observed changes in UCH-L1 in a military population exposed to repeated blast. In our current study we assessed GFAP protein levels in a military population exposed to repeated blast during a 2-week training protocol. We observed GFAP levels were reduced in the moderate blast cases on days 6 and 7 during the training. Specifically, moderate blast cases showed a 24.07% reduction from baseline on day 6 and a 29.61% reduction on day 7. Further, GFAP levels were negatively correlated with cumulative blast experienced during training and with duration of military service. We observed that repeated blast exposure at low levels may impact acute changes in GFAP. Additionally subacute cumulative blast exposure or duration of service was also a factor in influencing GFAP levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna E Tschiffely
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Jonathan K Statz
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland.,Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Katie A Edwards
- National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Carl Goforth
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland.,Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Stephen T Ahlers
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Walter S Carr
- Department of Behavioral Biology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Jessica M Gill
- National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.,Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland
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7
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Taylor MK, Hernández LM, Stump J, Tschiffely AE, Goforth CW, Laver DC, Ahlers ST. Blast exposure interacts with genetic variant 5HTTLPR to predict posttraumatic stress symptoms in military explosives personnel. Psychiatry Res 2019; 280:112519. [PMID: 31442670 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2019] [Revised: 08/01/2019] [Accepted: 08/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The first of its kind, this study determined whether blast exposure interacts with genetic variant 5HTTLPR to predict posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms in 78 military explosives operators. In all models, blast-exposed 5HTTLPR S carriers registered definitively higher PTS symptoms in comparison to non-exposed S carriers, as well as exposed and non-exposed LL carriers (all p < 0.01). All findings were robust to confounding influences of age and traumatic brain injury diagnosis. Not only is blast exposure prevalent in EOD personnel, but it also interacts with genetic predisposition to predict trauma symptoms in this unique, at-risk military population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus K Taylor
- Biobehavioral Sciences Lab, Warfighter Performance Department, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Lisa M Hernández
- Biobehavioral Sciences Lab, Warfighter Performance Department, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA; Leidos, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA.
| | - Jeremy Stump
- Biobehavioral Sciences Lab, Warfighter Performance Department, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA; Leidos, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Anna E Tschiffely
- Neurotrauma Department, Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Carl W Goforth
- Neurotrauma Department, Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - D Christine Laver
- Biobehavioral Sciences Lab, Warfighter Performance Department, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA; Leidos, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Stephen T Ahlers
- Neurotrauma Department, Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA
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8
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Statz JK, Ciarlone SL, Goodrich JA, McCarron RM, Walker PB, Norris JN, Ahlers ST, Tschiffely AE. Affective profiling for anxiety-like behavior in a rodent model of mTBI. Behav Brain Res 2019; 368:111895. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2019.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Revised: 03/14/2019] [Accepted: 04/08/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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9
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Gama Sosa MA, De Gasperi R, Perez Garcia GS, Perez GM, Searcy C, Vargas D, Spencer A, Janssen PL, Tschiffely AE, McCarron RM, Ache B, Manoharan R, Janssen WG, Tappan SJ, Hanson RW, Gandy S, Hof PR, Ahlers ST, Elder GA. Low-level blast exposure disrupts gliovascular and neurovascular connections and induces a chronic vascular pathology in rat brain. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2019; 7:6. [PMID: 30626447 PMCID: PMC6327415 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-018-0647-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2018] [Accepted: 12/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Much concern exists over the role of blast-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the chronic cognitive and mental health problems that develop in veterans and active duty military personnel. The brain vasculature is particularly sensitive to blast injury. The aim of this study was to characterize the evolving molecular and histologic alterations in the neurovascular unit induced by three repetitive low-energy blast exposures (3 × 74.5 kPa) in a rat model mimicking human mild TBI or subclinical blast exposure. High-resolution two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry of purified brain vascular fractions from blast-exposed animals 6 weeks post-exposure showed decreased levels of vascular-associated glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and several neuronal intermediate filament proteins (α-internexin and the low, middle, and high molecular weight neurofilament subunits). Loss of these proteins suggested that blast exposure disrupts gliovascular and neurovascular interactions. Electron microscopy confirmed blast-induced effects on perivascular astrocytes including swelling and degeneration of astrocytic endfeet in the brain cortical vasculature. Because the astrocyte is a major sensor of neuronal activity and regulator of cerebral blood flow, structural disruption of gliovascular integrity within the neurovascular unit should impair cerebral autoregulation. Disrupted neurovascular connections to pial and parenchymal blood vessels might also affect brain circulation. Blast exposures also induced structural and functional alterations in the arterial smooth muscle layer. Interestingly, by 8 months after blast exposure, GFAP and neuronal intermediate filament expression had recovered to control levels in isolated brain vascular fractions. However, despite this recovery, a widespread vascular pathology was still apparent at 10 months after blast exposure histologically and on micro-computed tomography scanning. Thus, low-level blast exposure disrupts gliovascular and neurovascular connections while inducing a chronic vascular pathology.
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10
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Ottinger MA, Lavoie ET, Bohannon MEB, Marcel AM, Tschiffely AE, Duffy KB, McKernan M, Thompson N, Whitehouse HK, Davani K, Strauss M, Tillitt DE, Lipton J, Dean KM. Embryonic effects of an environmentally relevant PCB mixture in the domestic chicken. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018; 37:2513-2522. [PMID: 29947098 DOI: 10.1002/etc.4218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2018] [Revised: 05/29/2018] [Accepted: 06/26/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Studies were conducted to develop methods to assess the effects of a complex mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus). Treatments were administered by egg injection to compare embryonic effects of an environmentally relevant PCB congener mixture in the domestic chicken over a range of doses. Chicken eggs were injected with the PCB mixture with a profile similar to that found in avian eggs collected on the upper Hudson River, New York, USA, at doses that spanned 0 to 98 μg/g egg. Eggs were hatched in the laboratory to ascertain hatching success. In the domestic chicken, the median lethal dose was 0.3 μg/g. These data demonstrate adverse effects of an environmentally relevant PCB mixture and provide the basis for further work using in vitro and other models to characterize the potential risk to avian populations. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:2513-2522. © 2018 SETAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Ann Ottinger
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Emma T Lavoie
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Meredith E B Bohannon
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Allegra M Marcel
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Anna E Tschiffely
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Kara B Duffy
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Moira McKernan
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Nichola Thompson
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - H Kasen Whitehouse
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Kimya Davani
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Marci Strauss
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Donald E Tillitt
- Biochemistry & Physiology Branch, Columbia Environmental Research Center, US Geological Survey, Columbia, Missouri
| | | | - Karen M Dean
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
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11
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Perez-Garcia G, Gama Sosa MA, De Gasperi R, Tschiffely AE, McCarron RM, Hof PR, Gandy S, Ahlers ST, Elder GA. Blast-induced "PTSD": Evidence from an animal model. Neuropharmacology 2018; 145:220-229. [PMID: 30227150 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2018.09.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2018] [Revised: 08/19/2018] [Accepted: 09/14/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
A striking observation among veterans returning from the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan has been the co-occurrence of blast-related mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD and mTBI might coexist due to additive effects of independent psychological and physical traumas experienced in a war zone. Alternatively blast injury might induce PTSD-related traits or damage brain structures that mediate responses to psychological stressors, increasing the likelihood that PTSD will develop following a subsequent psychological stressor. Rats exposed to repetitive low-level blasts consisting of three 74.5 kPa exposures delivered once daily for three consecutive days develop a variety of anxiety and PTSD-related behavioral traits that are present for at least 9 months after blast exposure. A single predator scent challenge delivered 8 months after the last blast exposure induces additional anxiety-related changes that are still present 45 days later. Because the blast injuries occur under general anesthesia, it appears that blast exposure in the absence of a psychological stressor can induce chronic PTSD-related traits. The reaction to a predator scent challenge delivered many months after blast exposure suggests that blast exposure in addition sensitizes the brain to react abnormally to subsequent psychological stressors. The development of PTSD-related behavioral traits in the absence of a psychological stressor suggests the existence of blast-induced "PTSD". Findings that PTSD-related behavioral traits can be reversed by BCI-838, a group II metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonist offers insight into pathogenesis and possible treatment options for blast-related brain injury. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled "Novel Treatments for Traumatic Brain Injury".
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Affiliation(s)
- Georgina Perez-Garcia
- Research and Development Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468, USA; Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Miguel A Gama Sosa
- General Medical Research Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY 10468, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Rita De Gasperi
- Research and Development Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Anna E Tschiffely
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA
| | - Richard M McCarron
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA; Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20914, USA
| | - Patrick R Hof
- Fishberg Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Care, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Sam Gandy
- Research and Development Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468, USA; Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA; Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; NFL Neurological Care Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Stephen T Ahlers
- Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA
| | - Gregory A Elder
- Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA; Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Ronald M. Loeb Center for Alzheimer's Disease, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Neurology Service, James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468, USA.
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Tschiffely AE, Schuh RA, Prokai-Tatrai K, Ottinger MA, Prokai L. An exploratory investigation of brain-selective estrogen treatment in males using a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Horm Behav 2018; 98:16-21. [PMID: 29183688 PMCID: PMC5999339 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.11.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2017] [Revised: 07/24/2017] [Accepted: 11/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Estrogens are neuroprotective, and studies suggest that they may mitigate the pathology and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in female models. However, central estrogen effects have not been examined in males in the context of AD. The purpose of this follow-up study was to assess the benefits of a brain-selective 17β-estradiol estrogen prodrug, 10β,17β-hydroxyestra-1,4-dien-3-one (DHED), also in the male APPswe/PS1dE9 double-transgenic mouse model of the disease. After continuously exposing 6-month old animals to DHED for two months, their brains showed decreased amyloid precursor and amyloid-β protein levels. The DHED-treated APPswe/PS1dE9 double transgenic subjects also exhibited enhanced performance in a cognitive task, while 17β-estradiol treatment did not reach statistical significance. Taken together, data presented here suggest that DHED may also have therapeutic benefit in males and warrant further investigations to fully elucidate the potential of targeted estrogen therapy for a gender-independent treatment of early-stage AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna E Tschiffely
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Graduate Program, University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742, USA; Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Rosemary A Schuh
- Department of Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Research Service, VAMHCS, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Katalin Prokai-Tatrai
- Center for Neuroscience Discovery, Institute for Healthy Aging, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA
| | - Mary Ann Ottinger
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742, USA.
| | - Laszlo Prokai
- Center for Neuroscience Discovery, Institute for Healthy Aging, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA.
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Tschiffely AE, Haque A, Haran FJ, Cunningham CA, Mehalick ML, May T, Stuessi K, Walker PB, Norris JN. Recovery from Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Following Uncomplicated Mounted and Dismounted Blast: A Natural History Approach. Mil Med 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/milmed/usx036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Anna E Tschiffely
- Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate, Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring MD
| | - Ashraful Haque
- Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate, Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring MD
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Bethesda, MD 20817
| | - Francis J Haran
- Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory, Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton CT 06349
| | - Craig A Cunningham
- Nursing Research & Consultation Services Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Portsmouth, VA 23708
| | - Melissa L Mehalick
- Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate, Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring MD
| | - Todd May
- Intermountain Healthcare Layton Hospital, Sports Medicine, Layton, UT 84041
| | - Keith Stuessi
- Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC), Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, CA 92058
| | - Peter B Walker
- Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate, Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring MD
| | - Jacob N Norris
- Operational and Undersea Medicine Directorate, Department of Neurotrauma, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring MD
- Advanced Concepts & Applied Research Branch, SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, CA 92152
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Gama Sosa MA, De Gasperi R, Perez Garcia GS, Sosa H, Searcy C, Vargas D, Janssen PL, Perez GM, Tschiffely AE, Janssen WG, McCarron RM, Hof PR, Haghighi FG, Ahlers ST, Elder GA. Lack of chronic neuroinflammation in the absence of focal hemorrhage in a rat model of low-energy blast-induced TBI. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2017; 5:80. [PMID: 29126430 PMCID: PMC6389215 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-017-0483-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2017] [Accepted: 10/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Blast-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been a common cause of injury in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Blast waves can damage blood vessels, neurons, and glial cells within the brain. Acutely, depending on the blast energy, blast wave duration, and number of exposures, blast waves disrupt the blood-brain barrier, triggering microglial activation and neuroinflammation. Recently, there has been much interest in the role that ongoing neuroinflammation may play in the chronic effects of TBI. Here, we investigated whether chronic neuroinflammation is present in a rat model of repetitive low-energy blast exposure. Six weeks after three 74.5-kPa blast exposures, and in the absence of hemorrhage, no significant alteration in the level of microglia activation was found. At 6 weeks after blast exposure, plasma levels of fractalkine, interleukin-1β, lipopolysaccharide-inducible CXC chemokine, macrophage inflammatory protein 1α, and vascular endothelial growth factor were decreased. However, no differences in cytokine levels were detected between blast-exposed and control rats at 40 weeks. In brain, isolated changes were seen in levels of selected cytokines at 6 weeks following blast exposure, but none of these changes was found in both hemispheres or at 40 weeks after blast exposure. Notably, one animal with a focal hemorrhagic tear showed chronic microglial activation around the lesion 16 weeks post-blast exposure. These findings suggest that focal hemorrhage can trigger chronic focal neuroinflammation following blast-induced TBI, but that in the absence of hemorrhage, chronic neuroinflammation is not a general feature of low-level blast injury.
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Walker PB, Norris JN, Tschiffely AE, Mehalick ML, Cunningham CA, Davidson IN. Applications of Transductive Spectral Clustering Methods in a Military Medical Concussion Database. IEEE/ACM Trans Comput Biol Bioinform 2017; 14:534-544. [PMID: 27455527 DOI: 10.1109/tcbb.2016.2591549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common forms of neurotrauma that has affected more than 250,000 military service members over the last decade alone. While in battle, service members who experience TBI are at significant risk for the development of normal TBI symptoms, as well as risk for the development of psychological disorders such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As such, these service members often require intense bouts of medication and therapy in order to resume full return-to-duty status. The primary aim of this study is to identify the relationship between the administration of specific medications and reductions in symptomology such as headaches, dizziness, or light-headedness. Service members diagnosed with mTBI and seen at the Concussion Restoration Care Center (CRCC) in Afghanistan were analyzed according to prescribed medications and symptomology. Here, we demonstrate that in such situations with sparse labels and small feature sets, classic analytic techniques such as logistic regression, support vector machines, naïve Bayes, random forest, decision trees, and k-nearest neighbor are not well suited for the prediction of outcomes. We attribute our findings to several issues inherent to this problem setting and discuss several advantages of spectral graph methods.
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Tschiffely AE, Schuh RA, Prokai-Tatrai K, Prokai L, Ottinger MA. A comparative evaluation of treatments with 17β-estradiol and its brain-selective prodrug in a double-transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Horm Behav 2016; 83:39-44. [PMID: 27210479 PMCID: PMC4950979 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2016.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2015] [Revised: 05/01/2016] [Accepted: 05/06/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Estrogens are neuroprotective and, thus, potentially useful for the therapy of Alzheimer's disease; however, clinical use of hormone therapy remains controversial due to adverse peripheral effects. The goal of this study was to investigate the benefits of treatment with 10β,17β-dihydroxyestra-1,4-dien-3-one (DHED), a brain-selective prodrug of 17β-estradiol, in comparison with the parent hormone using APPswe/PS1dE9 double transgenic mice to model the pathology of the disease. Ovariectomized and intact females were continuously treated with vehicle, 17β-estradiol, or DHED via subcutaneous osmotic pumps from 6 to 8months of age. We confirmed that this prolonged treatment with DHED did not stimulate uterine tissue, whereas 17β-estradiol treatment increased uterine weight. Amyloid precursor protein decreased in both treatment groups of intact, but not in ovariectomized double transgenic females in which ovariectomy already decreased the expression of this protein significantly. However, reduced brain amyloid-β peptide levels could be observed for both treatments. Consequently, double-transgenic ovariectomized and intact mice had higher cognitive performance compared to untreated control animals in response to both estradiol and DHED administrations. Overall, the tested brain-selective 17β-estradiol prodrug proved to be an effective early-stage intervention in an Alzheimer's disease-relevant mouse model without showing systemic impact and, thus, warrants further evaluation as a potential therapeutic candidate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna E Tschiffely
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Graduate Program, University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742, USA; Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Rosemary A Schuh
- Research Service, VAMHCS, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA; Department of Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Katalin Prokai-Tatrai
- Center for Neuroscience Discovery, Institute for Healthy Aging, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA; AgyPharma LLC, Mansfield, TX 76063, USA
| | - Laszlo Prokai
- Center for Neuroscience Discovery, Institute for Healthy Aging, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA; AgyPharma LLC, Mansfield, TX 76063, USA.
| | - Mary Ann Ottinger
- Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742, USA.
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