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Iskusnykh IY, Zakharova AA, Kryl’skii ED, Popova TN. Aging, Neurodegenerative Disorders, and Cerebellum. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:1018. [PMID: 38256091 PMCID: PMC10815822 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25021018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 01/05/2024] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
An important part of the central nervous system (CNS), the cerebellum is involved in motor control, learning, reflex adaptation, and cognition. Diminished cerebellar function results in the motor and cognitive impairment observed in patients with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), vascular dementia (VD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA), and multiple sclerosis (MS), and even during the normal aging process. In most neurodegenerative disorders, impairment mainly occurs as a result of morphological changes over time, although during the early stages of some disorders such as AD, the cerebellum also serves a compensatory function. Biological aging is accompanied by changes in cerebellar circuits, which are predominantly involved in motor control. Despite decades of research, the functional contributions of the cerebellum and the underlying molecular mechanisms in aging and neurodegenerative disorders remain largely unknown. Therefore, this review will highlight the molecular and cellular events in the cerebellum that are disrupted during the process of aging and the development of neurodegenerative disorders. We believe that deeper insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms of the cerebellum during aging and the development of neurodegenerative disorders will be essential for the design of new effective strategies for neuroprotection and the alleviation of some neurodegenerative disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor Y. Iskusnykh
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA
| | - Anastasia A. Zakharova
- Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Biomedicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Ostrovitianov St. 1, Moscow 117997, Russia
| | - Evgenii D. Kryl’skii
- Department of Medical Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Voronezh State University, Universitetskaya Sq. 1, Voronezh 394018, Russia; (E.D.K.)
| | - Tatyana N. Popova
- Department of Medical Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology, Voronezh State University, Universitetskaya Sq. 1, Voronezh 394018, Russia; (E.D.K.)
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Martins-Filho RK, Zotin MC, Rodrigues G, Pontes-Neto O. Biomarkers Related to Endothelial Dysfunction and Vascular Cognitive Impairment: A Systematic Review. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2021; 49:365-374. [PMID: 33045717 DOI: 10.1159/000510053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The damage in the endothelium and the neurovascular unit appears to play a key role in the pathogenesis of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). Although there have been many advances in understanding the physiopathology of this disease, several questions remain unanswered. The association with other degenerative diseases and the heterogeneity of its clinical spectrum establish a diagnostic problem, compromising a better comprehension of the pathology and halting the development of effective treatments. The investigation of biomarkers is an important movement to the development of novel explicative models and treatment targets involved in VCI. METHODS We searched MEDLINE considering the original research based on VCI biomarkers in the past 20 years, following prespecified selection criteria, data extraction, and qualitative synthesis. RESULTS We reviewed 42 articles: 16 investigated plasma markers, 17 analyzed neuropathological markers, 4 studied CSF markers, 4 evaluated neuroimaging markers (ultrasound and MRI), and 1 used peripheral Doppler perfusion imaging. CONCLUSIONS The biomarkers in these studies suggest an intrinsic relationship between endothelial dysfunction and VCI. Nonetheless, there is still a need for identification of a distinctive set of markers that can integrate the clinical approach of VCI, improve diagnostic accuracy, and support the discovery of alternative therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui Kleber Martins-Filho
- Department of Neurosciences and Behavioural Sciences, Hospital das Clínicas - Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil,
| | - Maria Clara Zotin
- Department of Internal Medicine, Radiology Division, Hospital das Clínicas - Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Guilherme Rodrigues
- Department of Neurosciences and Behavioural Sciences, Hospital das Clínicas - Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Octavio Pontes-Neto
- Department of Neurosciences and Behavioural Sciences, Hospital das Clínicas - Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
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Mukaetova-Ladinska EB, Li M, Kalaria RN. tau protein, ischemic injury and vascular dementia. FUTURE NEUROLOGY 2015. [DOI: 10.2217/fnl.15.46] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Clinical, neuroimaging and neuropathological studies have confirmed overlap between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD). Classical neuropathological changes of AD (plaques and tangles) can be present in VaD. We review neuroimaging, biochemical and animal studies to consider the role of tau protein in ischemic injury and VaD pathogenesis. The evidence comes largely from transgenic animal studies that confirm that tau transgenes influence cerebral vasculature. Clinicobiochemical studies in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have, similarly, confirmed alterations in both total and phosphorylated tau protein in VaD. These data suggest that tau protein not only serves as a potential diagnostic tool for differential diagnosis of VaD from other types of dementia, but may also be a therapeutic target in ischemic stroke.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mosi Li
- Centre for Neuroregeneration, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH16 4SB, UK
| | - Raj N Kalaria
- Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Campus for Ageing & Vitality, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5PL, UK
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Abstract
Golgi silver impregnation techniques remain ideal methods for the visualization of the neurons as a whole in formalin fixed brains and paraffin sections, enabling to obtain insight into the morphological and morphometric characters of the dendritic arbor, and the estimation of the morphology of the spines and the spinal density, since they delineate the profile of nerve cells with unique clarity and precision. In addition, the Golgi technique enables the study of the topographic relationships between neurons and neuronal circuits in normal conditions, and the following of the spatiotemporal morphological alterations occurring during degenerative processes. The Golgi technique has undergone many modifications in order to be enhanced and to obtain the optimal and maximal visualization of neurons and neuronal processes, the minimal precipitations, the abbreviation of the time required for the procedure, enabling the accurate study and description of specific structures of the brain. In the visualization of the sequential stages of the neuronal degeneration and death, the Golgi method plays a prominent role in the visualization of degenerating axons and dendrites, synaptic “boutons,” and axonal terminals and organelles of the cell body. In addition, new versions of the techniques increases the capacity of precise observation of the neurofibrillary degeneration, the proliferation of astrocytes, the activation of the microglia, and the morphology of capillaries in autopsy material of debilitating diseases of the central nervous system.
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Baldaçara L, Borgio JGF, Moraes WADS, Lacerda ALT, Montaño MBMM, Tufik S, Bressan RA, Ramos LR, Jackowski AP. Cerebellar volume in patients with dementia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012; 33:122-9. [PMID: 21829904 DOI: 10.1590/s1516-44462011000200006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2010] [Accepted: 09/24/2010] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the cerebellar volume of subjects at different stages of Alzheimer's disease and to investigate whether volume reductions in this structure are related to cognitive decline. METHOD Ninety-six subjects from an epidemiological study were submitted to a magnetic resonance imaging scan and evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Functional Activities Questionnaire. Subjects were divided into five groups according to the Clinical Dementia Rating scale. Twenty-six subjects from the original group who had no dementia diagnosis at baseline were re-evaluated for the onset of dementia after two years. RESULTS The volumes of the cerebellar hemispheres, posterior cerebellar lobe, vermis and temporal lobe were found to be reduced as a function of the severity of the disease. There were significant positive correlations between the volume of the temporal lobe and cerebellum and the language, attention, and total scores in the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Functional Activities Questionnaire. A logistic regression analysis demonstrated that reduced temporal lobe, posterior cerebellar lobe and vermal volume at baseline is a risk factor for the onset of dementia. CONCLUSION This is the first study demonstrating that reduced cerebellar volume is already apparent at the predementia stage. The results of this study support the involvement of the cerebellum in the progression of dementia. Whereas the cerebellum might not be directly associated with the origin of Alzheimer's disease, it may provide useful information related to its prognosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Baldaçara
- Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Neurociências Clínicas, Department of Psychiatry, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil.
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Tong M, Longato L, de la Monte SM. Early limited nitrosamine exposures exacerbate high fat diet-mediated type 2 diabetes and neurodegeneration. BMC Endocr Disord 2010; 10:4. [PMID: 20302640 PMCID: PMC3161394 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6823-10-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2009] [Accepted: 03/19/2010] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and several types of neurodegeneration, including Alzheimer's, are linked to insulin-resistance, and chronic high dietary fat intake causes T2DM with mild neurodegeneration. Intra-cerebral Streptozotocin, a nitrosamine-related compound, causes neurodegeneration, whereas peripheral treatment causes DM. HYPOTHESIS Limited early exposures to nitrosamines that are widely present in the environment, enhance the deleterious effects of high fat intake in promoting T2DM and neurodegeneration. METHODS Long Evans rat pups were treated with N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) by i.p. injection, and upon weaning, they were fed with high fat (60%; HFD) or low fat (5%; LFD) chow for 8 weeks. Cerebella were harvested to assess gene expression, and insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) deficiency and resistance in the context of neurodegeneration. RESULTS HFD +/- NDEA caused T2DM, neurodegeneration with impairments in brain insulin, insulin receptor, IGF-2 receptor, or insulin receptor substrate gene expression, and reduced expression of tau and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), which are regulated by insulin and IGF-1. In addition, increased levels of 4-hydroxynonenal and nitrotyrosine were measured in cerebella of HFD +/- NDEA treated rats, and overall, NDEA+HFD treatment reduced brain levels of Tau, phospho-GSK-3beta (reflecting increased GSK-3beta activity), glial fibrillary acidic protein, and ChAT to greater degrees than either treatment alone. Finally, pro-ceramide genes, examined because ceramides cause insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and neurodegeneration, were significantly up-regulated by HFD and/or NDEA exposure, but the highest levels were generally present in brains of HFD+NDEA treated rats. CONCLUSIONS Early limited exposure to nitrosamines exacerbates the adverse effects of later chronic high dietary fat intake in promoting T2DM and neurodegeneration. The mechanism involves increased generation of ceramides and probably other toxic lipids in brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Tong
- Liver Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, 55 Claverick Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA
- Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Box G, 97 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - Lisa Longato
- Liver Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, 55 Claverick Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA
- Pathobiology Program, Brown University, Box G, 222 Richmond Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA
| | - Suzanne M de la Monte
- Department of Pathology (Neuropathology), Rhode Island Hospital, 593 Eddy Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA
- Department of Neurology, Rhode Island Hospital, 593 Eddy Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA
- Liver Research Center, Rhode Island Hospital, 55 Claverick Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA
- Pathobiology Program, Brown University, Box G, 222 Richmond Street, Providence, RI 02903, USA
- Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Box G, 97 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA
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Thin-walled microvessels in human coronary atherosclerotic plaques show incomplete endothelial junctions relevance of compromised structural integrity for intraplaque microvascular leakage. J Am Coll Cardiol 2009; 53:1517-27. [PMID: 19389562 DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2008.12.056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 256] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2008] [Revised: 12/03/2008] [Accepted: 12/08/2008] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study sought to examine the ultrastructure of microvessels in normal and atherosclerotic coronary arteries and its association with plaque phenotype. BACKGROUND Microvessels in atherosclerotic plaques are an entry point for inflammatory and red blood cells; yet, there are limited data on the ultrastructural integrity of microvessels in human atherosclerosis. METHODS Microvessel density (MVD) and ultrastructural morphology were determined in the adventitia, intima-media border, and atherosclerotic plaque of 28 coronary arteries using immunohistochemistry for endothelial cells (Ulex europeaus, CD31/CD34), basement membrane (laminin, collagen IV), and mural cells (desmin, alpha-smooth muscle [SM] actin, smoothelin, SM1, SM2, SMemb). Ultrastructural characterization of microvessel morphology was performed by electron microscopy. RESULTS The MVD was increased in advanced plaques compared with early plaques, which correlated with lesion morphology. Adventitial MVD was higher than intraplaque MVD in normal arteries and early plaques, but adventitial and intraplaque MVD were similar in advanced plaques. Although microvessel basement membranes were intact, the percentage of thin-walled microvessels was similarly low in normal and atherosclerotic adventitia, in the adventitia and the plaque, and in all plaque types. Intraplaque microvascular endothelial cells (ECs) were abnormal, with membrane blebs, intracytoplasmic vacuoles, open EC-EC junctions, and basement membrane detachment. Leukocyte infiltration was frequently observed by electron microscopy, and confirmed by CD45RO and CD68 immunohistochemistry. CONCLUSIONS The MVD was associated with coronary plaque progression and morphology. Microvessels were thin-walled in normal and atherosclerotic arteries, and the compromised structural integrity of microvascular endothelium may explain the microvascular leakage responsible for intraplaque hemorrhage in advanced human coronary atherosclerosis.
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Baldaçara L, Borgio JGF, Lacerda ALTD, Jackowski AP. Cerebellum and psychiatric disorders. BRAZILIAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY 2008; 30:281-9. [PMID: 18833430 DOI: 10.1590/s1516-44462008000300016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2008] [Accepted: 05/29/2008] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The objective of this update article is to report structural and functional neuroimaging studies exploring the potential role of cerebellum in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. METHOD: A non-systematic literature review was conducted by means of Medline using the following terms as a parameter: "cerebellum", "cerebellar vermis", "schizophrenia", "bipolar disorder", "depression", "anxiety disorders", "dementia" and "attention deficit hyperactivity disorder". The electronic search was done up to April 2008. DISCUSSION: Structural and functional cerebellar abnormalities have been reported in many psychiatric disorders, namely schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, dementia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Structural magnetic resonance imaging studies have reported smaller total cerebellar and vermal volumes in schizophrenia, mood disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies using cognitive paradigms have shown alterations in cerebellar activity in schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In dementia, the cerebellum is affected in later stages of the disease. CONCLUSION: Contrasting with early theories, cerebellum appears to play a major role in different brain functions other than balance and motor control, including emotional regulation and cognition. Future studies are clearly needed to further elucidate the role of cerebellum in both normal and pathological behavior, mood regulation, and cognitive functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Baldaçara
- Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil; Irmandade da Santa Casa de São Paulo, Brazil; Universidade Federal do Tocantins, Brazil
| | | | - Acioly Luiz Tavares de Lacerda
- Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil; Instituto Sinapse de Neurociências Clínicas, Brazil; Centro de Pesquisa e Ensaios Clínicos Sinapse-Bairral, Brazil
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