Brain serum amyloid P levels are reduced in individuals that lack Dementia while having Alzheimer's disease neuropathology

Jeffrey R. Crawford, Richard H. Gomer, Nicole L. Bjorklund, Giulio Taglialatela

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

The neuropathological signs of Alzheimer's disease (AD) include beta amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. There is a significant population of individuals that have these key hallmarks but show no signs of cognitive impairment, termed non-demented with AD neuropathology (NDAN). The protective mechanism allowing these individuals to escape dementia is unknown. Serum amyloid P (SAP) is a serum protein associated with wound repair that is elevated in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and binds to amyloid plaques. Using immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry, we evaluated SAP levels in postmortem samples of hippocampus and frontal cortex in age-matched controls, AD, and NDAN individuals. AD individuals had significantly increased SAP levels compared to normal controls, while NDAN samples had no significant difference in SAP levels compared to normal controls. Our results suggest that low levels of SAP in plaques marks the brains of individuals that escape dementia despite the presence of beta amyloid plaques and tangles.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)795-801
Number of pages7
JournalNeurochemical Research
Volume37
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2012
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Alzheimer's
  • Betaamyloid plaque
  • Hippocampus
  • Neurofibrillary tangle
  • Serum amyloid P

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

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