Resolution of inflammation is altered in Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: Resolution is the final stage of the inflammatory response, when restoration of tissue occurs. Failure may lead to chronic inflammation, which is known as part of the pathology in the brain of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: Specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs), receptors, biosynthetic enzyme, and downstream effectors involved in resolution were analyzed in postmortem hippocampal tissue from AD patients and non-AD subjects. SPMs were analyzed in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). RESULTS: SPMs and SPM receptors were detected in the human brain. Levels of the SPM lipoxin A4 (LXA4) were reduced in AD, both in the CSF and hippocampus. An enzyme involved in LXA4 synthesis and two SPM receptors were elevated in AD brains. LXA4 and RvD1 levels in CSF correlated with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. CONCLUSIONS: A resolution pathway exists in the brain and the alterations described herein strongly suggest a dysfunction of this pathway in AD. MMSE correlations suggest a connection with cognitive function in AD.

Accumulation of the amyloid precursor-like protein APLP2 and reduction of APLP1 in retinoic acid-differentiated human neuroblastoma cells upon curcumin-induced neurite retraction.

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) belongs to a conserved gene family, also including the amyloid precursor-like proteins, APLP1 and APLP2. The function of these three proteins is not yet fully understood. One of the proposed roles of APP is to promote neurite outgrowth. The aim of this study was to investigate the regulation of the expression levels of APP family members during neurite outgrowth. We observed that retinoic acid (RA)-induced neuronal differentiation of human SH-SY5Y cells resulted in increased expression of APP, APLP1 and APLP2. We also examined the effect of the NFkappaB, AP-1 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase inhibitor curcumin (diferuloylmethane) on the RA-induced expression levels of these proteins. We found that treatment with curcumin counteracted the RA-induced mRNA expression of all APP family members. In addition, we observed that curcumin treatment resulted in neurite retraction without any effect on cell viability. Surprisingly, curcumin had differential effects on the APLP protein levels in RA-differentiated cells. RA-induced APLP1 protein expression was blocked by curcumin, while the APLP2 protein levels were further increased. APP protein levels were not affected by curcumin treatment. We propose that the sustained levels of APP and the elevated levels of APLP2, in spite of the reduced mRNA expression, are due to altered proteolytic processing of these proteins. Furthermore, our results suggest that APLP1 does not undergo the same type of regulated processing as APP and APLP2.

Additive effects of amyloid beta fragment and interleukin-1beta on interleukin-6 secretion in rat primary glial cultures.

The main constituent of the Alzheimer amyloid plaques is the amyloid beta (Abeta) peptide shown to activate glial cells in vitro. Activated glial cells are believed to contribute to neurotoxicity through production of inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1 (IL-1), chemokines and neurotoxic substances. The IL-1 system has been proposed to play a role in neurodegenerative processes and can in turn induce expression of other cytokines such as IL-6. Recently, association of IL-1 and IL-6 gene polymorphism with Alzheimer's disease was reported, suggesting that these cytokines may play an important role in the development of the disease. In this study, rat primary mixed glial cells were treated with IL-1beta, Abeta(1-42) or Abeta(25-35). As expected the different treatments all resulted in activation of the transcription factor NFkappaB observed by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Significant increases in IL-1beta and IL-6 mRNA levels, as analysed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), were detected after the different treatments. In addition, increased secretion of IL-6 was detected by ELISA after 96 h exposure in response to IL-1beta, Abeta(1-42) or Abeta(25-35). When cells were exposed to both IL-1beta and Abeta(25-35) additive effects were observed. This supports that the effect of Abeta can be potentiated by concurrent exposure to inflammatory cytokines and that the IL-1 system is not necessary for Abeta effects on IL-6 expression in agreement with previous studies.