Cerebrospinal fluid BACE1 activity and brain amyloid load in Alzheimer's disease

ScientificWorldJournal. 2012:2012:712048. doi: 10.1100/2012/712048. Epub 2012 Jan 3.

Abstract

The secretase BACE1 is fundamentally involved in the development of cerebral amyloid pathology in Alzheimer's disease (AD). It has not been studied so far to what extent BACE1 activity in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) mirrors in vivo amyloid load in AD. We explored associations between CSF BACE1 activity and fibrillar amyloid pathology as measured by carbon-11-labelled Pittsburgh Compound B positron emission tomography ([¹¹C]PIB PET). [¹¹C]PIB and CSF studies were performed in 31 patients with AD. Voxel-based linear regression analysis revealed significant associations between CSF BACE1 activity and [¹¹C]PIB tracer uptake in the bilateral parahippocampal region, the thalamus, and the pons. Our study provides evidence for a brain region-specific correlation between CSF BACE1 activity and in-vivo fibrillar amyloid pathology in AD. Associations were found in areas close to the brain ventricles, which may have important implications for the use of BACE1 in CSF as a marker for AD pathology and for antiamyloid treatment monitoring.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alzheimer Disease / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Alzheimer Disease / enzymology
  • Alzheimer Disease / pathology
  • Amyloid / analysis*
  • Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Biomarkers / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Brain / pathology
  • Brain Chemistry*
  • Female
  • Hippocampus / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Neuroimaging
  • Pons / chemistry
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Thalamus / chemistry

Substances

  • Amyloid
  • Biomarkers
  • Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases
  • Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases
  • BACE1 protein, human