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Implication of altered α7 nicotinic receptors and amyloid deposition in the Alzheimer's brain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

K. Nakaizumi*
Affiliation:
Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Psychiatry, Hamamatsu, Japan
T. Terada
Affiliation:
Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Biofunctional Imaging, Hamamatsu, Japan
E. Yoshikawa
Affiliation:
Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.- Hamamatsu- Japan, Central Research Laboratory, Hamamatsu, Japan
A. Kakimoto
Affiliation:
Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.- Hamamatsu- Japan, Central Research Laboratory, Hamamatsu, Japan
I. Takashi
Affiliation:
Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.- Hamamatsu- Japan, Central Research Laboratory, Hamamatsu, Japan
I. Suzuki
Affiliation:
Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.- Hamamatsu- Japan, Central Research Laboratory, Hamamatsu, Japan
B. Tomoyasu
Affiliation:
Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Biofunctional Imaging, Hamamatsu, Japan
K. Suzuki
Affiliation:
Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Psychiatry, Hamamatsu, Japan
Y. Magata
Affiliation:
Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Molecular Imaging- Medical Photonics Research Center, Hamamatsu, Japan
N. Mori
Affiliation:
Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Psychiatry, Hamamatsu, Japan
Y. Ouchi
Affiliation:
Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Biofunctional Imaging, Hamamatsu, Japan
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Brain amyloid-β protein (Aβ) deposition is a key pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Cholinergic degeneration, including reductions in α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7-nAChR), is also known as a pathophysiology of AD. Recent imaging studies have shown cognitively normal subjects with Aβ depositions, indicating a missing link between Aβ deposition and cognitive decline.

Objectives

To clarify relationships among the Aβ burden, α7-nAChR availability, and cognitive declines in AD.

Aims

To measure brain Aβ deposition and α7-nAChR availability in the same patients with AD using positron emission tomography (PET).

Methods

Twenty AD patients and age-matched 20 healthy adults were studied. The α7-nAChR availability and Aβ deposition were evaluated using PET with [11C]MeQAA and [11C]PIB, respectively. Levels of specific binding were estimated by a simplified reference tissue method (BPND) for [11C]MeQAA and a tissue ratio method (SUVR) for using [11C]PIB. The values were compared with clinical measures of various cognitive functions using regions of interest (ROIs)-based and statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analyses.

Results

[11C]MeQAA BPND levels were extensively lower in the cholinergic projection regions of AD. There was a significant negative correlation between [11C]PIB SUVR and [11C]MeQAA BPND in the nucleus basalis of Mynert (NBM). The NBM [11C]PIB SUVR was negatively correlated with the [11C]MeQAA BPND level in the anterior and posterior cingulate cortices, whereas the relation within the same region showed weak correlation. Also we found significant correlation between cognitive decline and [11C]MeQAA BPND levels in the NBM.

Conclusions

Aβ deposition-linked α7-nAChR dysfunction may account for cognitive decline in AD.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Type
EW350
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2016
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