In this study, we investigated the long-term treatment of dantrolene on amyloid and tau neuropathology, brain volume, and cognitive function in aged triple transgenic Alzheimer (3xTg-AD) mice. Fifteen-month old 3xTg-AD mice and wild-type controls were treated with oral dantrolene (5 mg/kg) or vehicle control twice a week for 6 months. Learning and memory were examined using the Morris Water Maze at 21 and 22 months of age. After the behavioral testing, hippocampal and cortical brain volumes were calculated with magnetic resonance imaging and motor function was evaluated using the rotorod. The amyloid burden and tau neurofibrillary tangles in the hippocampus were determined using immunohistochemistry. We found that dantrolene significantly decreased the intraneuronal amyloid accumulation by as much as 76% compared with its corresponding vehicle control, together with a trend to reduce phosphorylated tau in the hippocampus. No significant differences could be detected in hippocampal or cortical brain volume, motor function or cognition among all experimental groups, indicating that the mice were still presymptomatic for Alzheimer disease. Thus, presymptomatic and long-term dantrolene treatment significantly decreased the intraneuronal amyloid burden in aged 3xTg-AD mice before significant changes in brain volume, or cognition.
基金:
National Institute of General Medical Science, National Institute of Health, Baltimore, MD [1-R01GM084979-01, 3R01GM084979-02S1]; March of Dimes Birth Defects, White Plains, NY [12-FY08-167]; Research Fund at the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania; NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCESUnited States Department of Health & Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) [R01GM084979] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
第一作者单位:[1]Univ Penn, Perelman Sch Med, Dept Anesthesiol & Crit Care, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA[3]Huazhong Univ Sci & Technol, Tongji Med Coll, Tongji Hosp, Dept Anesthesiol, Wuhan 430074, Peoples R China
通讯作者:
通讯机构:[1]Univ Penn, Perelman Sch Med, Dept Anesthesiol & Crit Care, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA[*1]Univ Penn, Sch Med, Dept Anesthesiol & Crit Care, 305 John Morgan Bldg,3620 Hamilton Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA