Generation of aggregated beta-amyloid in the rat hippocampus impairs synaptic transmission and plasticity and causes memory deficits

Effects of fimbria-fornix lesion and amyloid pathology on spatial learning and memory in transgenic APP+PS1 mice

Transgenic mice carrying mutated human amyloid precursor protein (APPswe) and presenilin (PS1, A246E) genes develop first amyloid plaques around 9 months of age, but up to 18 months of age, amyloid depositions in these mice were largely restricted to the hippocampus, subiculum, and neocortex. To assess the behavioral consequences of amyloid accumulation in the hippocampal formation, we compared the effects of APP+PS1 (AP) genotype and fimbria-fornix (FFX) transection, either alone or combined, on various spatial learning and memory tasks. Both FFX-lesioned and AP mice were impaired in spatial navigation in the water maze, a typical hippocampal dependent task. Conversely, neither group of mice was impaired in a win-stay version of the radial arm maze (RAM) or position discrimination in the T-maze, tasks that do not depend on the hippocampus. FFX-lesioned mice were impaired in the win-shift version of the RAM, and in spontaneous and rewarded alternation in the T-maze, while AP mice performed equal to non-transgenic controls in all these working memory tasks, except long-term retention of the RAM task. AP mice thus appear to have a selective deficit in hippocampal dependent long-term memory, as do Alzheimer patients at early stage of the disease.

The effect of beta-amyloid on neurons and the influence of glucocorticoid and age on such effect

To explore the relationship between beta-amyloid (A beta) and the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD), after injection of beta-amyloid into the rat brain, the apoptosis of nerve cells and acetylcholine (Ach) content in rat hippocampus were examined by employing TUNEL technique and base hydroxylamine colorimetry respectively. The influence of age and glucocorticoid on the neurotoxic effect of A beta was also analyzed. A beta peptide could strongly induce the apoptosis of neurons in hippocampus, cortex and striate body (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). In addition, the senility and glucocorticoid pre-treatment could enhance the toxic effect of A beta (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). It is concluded that A beta may play an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease via its induction of apoptosis of neurons and by decreasing the content of the Ach.