Alzheimer's disease‐like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin
Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease and the primary cause of disability and dependency among elderly humans worldwide. AD is thought to be a disease unique to humans although several other animals develop some aspects of AD‐like pathology. Odontocetes...
Published in: | European Journal of Neuroscience |
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15900 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ejn.15900 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/ejn.15900 |
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crwiley:10.1111/ejn.15900 2024-09-15T18:39:13+00:00 Alzheimer's disease‐like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin Vacher, Marissa C. Durrant, Claire S. Rose, Jamie Hall, Ailsa J. Spires‐Jones, Tara L. Gunn‐Moore, Frank Dagleish, Mark P. UK Dementia Research Institute Natural Environment Research Council European Research Council Medical Research Council Alzheimer's Society Rosetrees Trust Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Scottish Government 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15900 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ejn.15900 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/ejn.15900 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ European Journal of Neuroscience volume 57, issue 7, page 1161-1179 ISSN 0953-816X 1460-9568 journal-article 2022 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15900 2024-07-30T04:22:58Z Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease and the primary cause of disability and dependency among elderly humans worldwide. AD is thought to be a disease unique to humans although several other animals develop some aspects of AD‐like pathology. Odontocetes (toothed whales) share traits with humans that suggest they may be susceptible to AD. The brains of 22 stranded odontocetes of five different species were examined using immunohistochemistry to investigate the presence or absence of neuropathological hallmarks of AD: amyloid‐beta plaques, phospho‐tau accumulation and gliosis. Immunohistochemistry revealed that all aged animals accumulated amyloid plaque pathology. In three animals of three different species of odontocete, there was co‐occurrence of amyloid‐beta plaques, intraneuronal accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau, neuropil threads and neuritic plaques. One animal showed well‐developed neuropil threads, phospho‐tau accumulation and neuritic plaques, but no amyloid plaques. Microglia and astrocytes were present as expected in all brain samples examined, but we observed differences in cell morphology and numbers between individual animals. The simultaneous occurrence of amyloid‐beta plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau pathology in the brains of odontocetes shows that these three species develop AD‐like neuropathology spontaneously. The significance of this pathology with respect to the health and, ultimately, death of the animals remains to be determined. However, it may contribute to the cause(s) of unexplained live‐stranding in some odontocete species and supports the ‘sick‐leader’ theory whereby healthy conspecifics in a pod mass strand due to high social cohesion. Article in Journal/Newspaper toothed whales Wiley Online Library European Journal of Neuroscience 57 7 1161 1179 |
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English |
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Abstract Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease and the primary cause of disability and dependency among elderly humans worldwide. AD is thought to be a disease unique to humans although several other animals develop some aspects of AD‐like pathology. Odontocetes (toothed whales) share traits with humans that suggest they may be susceptible to AD. The brains of 22 stranded odontocetes of five different species were examined using immunohistochemistry to investigate the presence or absence of neuropathological hallmarks of AD: amyloid‐beta plaques, phospho‐tau accumulation and gliosis. Immunohistochemistry revealed that all aged animals accumulated amyloid plaque pathology. In three animals of three different species of odontocete, there was co‐occurrence of amyloid‐beta plaques, intraneuronal accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau, neuropil threads and neuritic plaques. One animal showed well‐developed neuropil threads, phospho‐tau accumulation and neuritic plaques, but no amyloid plaques. Microglia and astrocytes were present as expected in all brain samples examined, but we observed differences in cell morphology and numbers between individual animals. The simultaneous occurrence of amyloid‐beta plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau pathology in the brains of odontocetes shows that these three species develop AD‐like neuropathology spontaneously. The significance of this pathology with respect to the health and, ultimately, death of the animals remains to be determined. However, it may contribute to the cause(s) of unexplained live‐stranding in some odontocete species and supports the ‘sick‐leader’ theory whereby healthy conspecifics in a pod mass strand due to high social cohesion. |
author2 |
UK Dementia Research Institute Natural Environment Research Council European Research Council Medical Research Council Alzheimer's Society Rosetrees Trust Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Scottish Government |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Vacher, Marissa C. Durrant, Claire S. Rose, Jamie Hall, Ailsa J. Spires‐Jones, Tara L. Gunn‐Moore, Frank Dagleish, Mark P. |
spellingShingle |
Vacher, Marissa C. Durrant, Claire S. Rose, Jamie Hall, Ailsa J. Spires‐Jones, Tara L. Gunn‐Moore, Frank Dagleish, Mark P. Alzheimer's disease‐like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin |
author_facet |
Vacher, Marissa C. Durrant, Claire S. Rose, Jamie Hall, Ailsa J. Spires‐Jones, Tara L. Gunn‐Moore, Frank Dagleish, Mark P. |
author_sort |
Vacher, Marissa C. |
title |
Alzheimer's disease‐like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin |
title_short |
Alzheimer's disease‐like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin |
title_full |
Alzheimer's disease‐like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin |
title_fullStr |
Alzheimer's disease‐like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin |
title_full_unstemmed |
Alzheimer's disease‐like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin |
title_sort |
alzheimer's disease‐like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15900 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ejn.15900 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1111/ejn.15900 |
genre |
toothed whales |
genre_facet |
toothed whales |
op_source |
European Journal of Neuroscience volume 57, issue 7, page 1161-1179 ISSN 0953-816X 1460-9568 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15900 |
container_title |
European Journal of Neuroscience |
container_volume |
57 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
1161 |
op_container_end_page |
1179 |
_version_ |
1810483612148039680 |