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Kirsch D, Shah A, Dixon E, Kelley H, Cherry JD, Xia W, Daley S, Aytan N, Cormier K, Kubilus C, Mathias R, Alvarez VE, Huber BR, McKee AC, Stein TD. Vascular injury is associated with repetitive head impacts and tau pathology in chronic traumatic encephalopathy. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2023; 82:127-139. [PMID: 36617181 PMCID: PMC9852946 DOI: 10.1093/jnen/nlac122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [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: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease linked to repetitive head impacts (RHI) and characterized by perivascular hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) deposits. The role of vascular injury, blood-brain barrier leakage, and neuroinflammation in CTE pathogenesis is not well understood. We performed quantitative immunoassays for intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1), vascular cellular adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM1), and C-reactive protein (CRP) within the postmortem dorsolateral frontal cortex of participants with and without a history of RHI and CTE (n = 156), and tested for associations with RHI, microgliosis, and tau pathology measures. Levels of vascular injury-associated markers ICAM1, VCAM1, and CRP were increased in CTE compared to RHI-exposed and -naïve controls. ICAM1 and CRP increased with RHI exposure duration (p < 0.01) and were associated with increased microglial density (p < 0.001) and tau pathology (AT8, p-tau396, p-tau202; p < 0.05). Histologically, there was significantly increased ICAM1 staining of the microvasculature, extracellular space, and astrocytes at the sulcal depths in high stage CTE compared to both low stage CTE and controls. Multifocal perivascular immunoreactivity for serum albumin was present in all RHI-exposed individuals. These findings demonstrate that vascular injury markers are associated with RHI exposure, duration, and microgliosis, are elevated in CTE, and increase with disease severity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Kirsch
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Arsal Shah
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Erin Dixon
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Hunter Kelley
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jonathan D Cherry
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Weiming Xia
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Sarah Daley
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Nurgul Aytan
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Kerry Cormier
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Carol Kubilus
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Rebecca Mathias
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Victor E Alvarez
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Bertrand R Huber
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Ann C McKee
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Thor D Stein
- Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease and CTE Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- VA Bedford Healthcare System, Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
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