Medical Neurobiology Commons^™

Alzheimer's And Amyloid Beta: Amyloidogenicity And Tauopathy Via Dyshomeostatic Interactions Of Amyloid Beta, Jordan Tillinghast

Senior Honors Theses

This paper reviews functions of Amyloid-β (Aβ) in healthy individuals compared to the consequences of aberrant Aβ in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). As extraneuronal Aβ accumulation and plaque formation are characteristics of AD, it is reasonable to infer a pivotal role for Aβ in AD pathogenesis. Establishing progress of the disease as well as the mechanism of neurodegeneration from AD have proven difficult (Selkoe, 1994). This thesis provides evidence suggesting the pathogenesis of AD is due to dysfunctional neuronal processes involving Aβ’s synaptic malfunction, abnormal interaction with tau, and disruption of neuronal homeostasis. Significant evidence demonstrates that AD symptoms are partially …

Hyperhomocysteinemia As A Risk Factor For Vascular Contributions To Cognitive Impairment And Dementia, Brittani R. Price, Donna M. Wilcock, Erica M. Weekman

Physiology Faculty Publications

Behind only Alzheimer’s disease, vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) is the second most common cause of dementia, affecting roughly 10–40% of dementia patients. While there is no cure for VCID, several risk factors for VCID, such as diabetes, hypertension, and stroke, have been identified. Elevated plasma levels of homocysteine, termed hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy), are a major, yet underrecognized, risk factor for VCID. B vitamin deficiency, which is the most common cause of HHcy, is common in the elderly. With B vitamin supplementation being a relatively safe and inexpensive therapeutic, the treatment of HHcy-induced VCID would seem straightforward; however, …

Milder Alzheimer's Disease Pathology In Heart Failure And Atrial Fibrillation, Luciano A. Sposato, Estefania Ruiz Vargas, Patricia M. Riccio, Jon B. Toledo, John Q. Trojanowski, Walter A. Kukull, Lauren E. Cipriano, Antonia Nucera, Shawn N. Whitehead, Vladimir Hachinski

Anatomy and Cell Biology Publications

Introduction:Heart failure (HF) and atrial fibrillation (AF) have been associated with a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Whether HF and AF are related to AD by enhancing AD neuropathological changes is unknown.

Methods:We applied network analyses and multiple logistic regression models to assess the association between HF and AF with severity of AD neuropathology in patients from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center database with primary neuropathological diagnosis of AD.

Results:We included 1593 patients, of whom 129 had HF and 250 had AF. HF and AF patients were older and had milder AD pathology. In the network …

Dementia Care: Confronting Myths In Clinical Management, Shirley M. Neitch Md, Charles Meadows Md, Eva Patton-Tackett Md, Kevin W. Yingling Md

Internal Medicine

Enormous challenges of this pervasive life-changing condition. Seeking help, often grasping at straws, victims, and their care providers are confronted with misinformation and myths when they search the internet or other sources. When Persons with Dementia (PWD) and their caregivers believe and/or act on false information, proper treatment may be delayed, and ultimately damage can be done. In this paper, we review commonly misunderstood issues encountered in caring for PWD. Our goal is to equip Primary Care Practitioners (PCPs) with accurate information to share with patients and families, to improve the outcomes of PWD to the greatest extent possible.

While …

White Matter Diffusion Alterations In Normal Women At Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease, Charles D. Smith, Himachandra Chebrolu, Anders H. Andersen, David A. Powell, Mark A. Lovell, Shuling Xiong, Brian T. Gold

Neurology Faculty Publications

Increased white matter mean diffusivity and decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) has been observed in subjects diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We sought to determine whether similar alterations of white matter occur in normal individuals at risk of AD. Diffusion tensor images were acquired in 42 cognitively normal right-handed women with both a family history of dementia and at least one apolipoprotein E4 allele. These were compared with images from 23 normal women without either AD risk factor. Group analyses were performed using tract-based spatial statistics. Reduced FA was observed in the fronto-occipital and inferior temporal …