Gene-variant specific effects of plasma amyloid-β levels in Swedish autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease.

Background: Several blood-based biomarkers offer the opportunity of in vivo detection of brain pathology and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer disease with high specificity and sensitivity, but the performance of amyloid-β (Aβ) measurements remains under evaluation. Autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease (ADAD) with mutations in PSEN1, PSEN2 and APP can be studied as a model for sporadic Alzheimer disease. However, clarifying the genetic effects on the Aβ-levels in different matrices such as cerebrospinal fluid or plasma is crucial for generalizability and utility of data.

Tracking reactive astrogliosis in autosomal dominant and sporadic Alzheimer's disease with multi-modal PET and plasma GFAP.

Background: Plasma assays for the detection of Alzheimer's disease neuropathological changes are receiving ever increasing interest. The concentration of plasma glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) has been suggested as a potential marker of astrocytes or recently, amyloid-β burden, although this hypothesis remains unproven. We compared plasma GFAP levels with the astrocyte tracer C-Deuterium-L-Deprenyl (C-DED) in a multi-modal PET design in participants with sporadic and Autosomal Dominant Alzheimer's disease.

Plasma biomarker profiles in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease.

Emerging plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease might be non-invasive tools to trace early Alzheimer's disease-related abnormalities such as the accumulation of amyloid-beta peptides, neurofibrillary tau tangles, glial activation and neurodegeneration. It is, however, unclear which pathological processes in the CNS can be adequately detected by peripheral measurements and whether plasma biomarkers are equally applicable in both clinical and preclinical phases. Here we aimed to explore the timing and performance of plasma biomarkers in mutation carriers compared to non-carriers in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease.

APOE ε4 influences cognitive decline positively in APP and negatively in PSEN1 mutation carriers with autosomal-dominant Alzheimer's disease.

Background And Purpose: The aim was to investigate the effect of APOE ε4 allele on cognitive decline in adAD. Presence of the APOE ε4 allele reduces age of symptom onset, increases disease progression, and lowers cognitive performance in sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD), while the impact of the APOE ε4 allele in autosomal-dominant AD (adAD) is incompletely known.

Methods: Mutation carriers (MCs; n = 39) and non-carriers (NCs; n = 40) from six adAD families harbouring a mutation in the APP (28 MCs and 25 NCs) or the PSEN1 genes (11 MCs and 15 NCs) underwent repeated cognitive assessments.

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis.

The role of caspase-1, caspase-4 and NLRP3 in regulating the host cell response evoked by uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

The inflammasome-associated proteins caspase-1, caspase-4 and NLRP3 have been emphasised to be essential in the host cell response during urinary tract infection (UTI) by regulating IL-1β release. Our aim was to investigate how the inflammasome-associated proteins regulate the cell response of bladder epithelial cells during infection with uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC). Human bladder epithelial cells (5637) and CRISPR/Cas9 generated caspase-1, caspase-4 and NLRP3 knockdown cells were stimulated with the UPEC strain CFT073.

Transcriptional alterations in bladder epithelial cells in response to infection with different morphological states of uropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) may undergo a cyclic cascade of morphological alterations that are believed to enhance the potential of UPEC to evade host responses and re-infect host cell. However, knowledge on the pathogenic potential and host activation properties of UPEC during the morphological switch is limited. Microarray analysis was performed on mRNA isolated from human bladder epithelial cells (HBEP) after exposure to three different morphological states of UPEC (normal coliform, filamentous form and reverted form).

Decreased Global EEG Synchronization in Amyloid Positive Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease Patients-Relationship to .

The apolipoprotein E () allele is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) that has been linked to changes in brain structure and function as well as to different biological subtypes of the disease. The present study aimed to investigate the association of genotypes with brain functional impairment, as assessed by quantitative EEG (qEEG) in patients on the AD continuum. The study population included 101 amyloid positive patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) ( = 50) and AD ( = 51) that underwent resting-state EEG recording and CSF Aβ42 analysis.

Plasma metabolomics of presymptomatic PSEN1-H163Y mutation carriers: a pilot study.

Background And Objective: PSEN1-H163Y carriers, at the presymptomatic stage, have reduced FDG-PET binding in the cerebrum of the brain (Scholl et al., Neurobiol Aging 32:1388-1399, 2011). This could imply dysfunctional energy metabolism in the brain.

Author Correction: DNA-based identification of predators of the corallivorous Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster cf. solaris) from fish faeces and gut contents.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Cerebrospinal Fluid YKL-40 and Neurogranin in Familial Alzheimer's Disease: A Pilot Study.

Background: YKL-40 and neurogranin are promising additional cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) which reflect different underlying disease mechanisms.

Objective: To compare the levels of CSF YKL-40 and neurogranin between asymptomatic carriers of familial AD (FAD) mutations (MC) and non-carriers (NC) from the same families. Another objective was to assess changes in YKL-40 and neurogranin, from the presymptomatic to clinical phase of FAD.

DNA-based identification of predators of the corallivorous Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster cf. solaris) from fish faeces and gut contents.

The corallivorous Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (CoTS, Acanthaster spp.) has been linked with the widespread loss of scleractinian coral cover on Indo-Pacific reefs during periodic population outbreaks. Here, we re-examine CoTS consumption by coral reef fish species by using new DNA technologies to detect Pacific Crown-of-Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster cf.

Losing a winner: thermal stress and local pressures outweigh the positive effects of ocean acidification for tropical seagrasses.

Seagrasses are globally important coastal habitat-forming species, yet it is unknown how seagrasses respond to the combined pressures of ocean acidification and warming of sea surface temperature. We exposed three tropical species of seagrass (Cymodocea serrulata, Halodule uninervis, and Zostera muelleri) to increasing temperature (21, 25, 30, and 35°C) and pCO (401, 1014, and 1949 μatm) for 7 wk in mesocosms using a controlled factorial design. Shoot density and leaf extension rates were recorded, and plant productivity and respiration were measured at increasing light levels (photosynthesis-irradiance curves) using oxygen optodes.

Writing fluency in patients with low-grade glioma before and after surgery.

Background: Low-grade glioma (LGG) is a type of brain tumour often situated in or near areas involved in language, sensory or motor functions. Depending on localization and tumour characteristics, language or cognitive impairments due to tumour growth and/or surgical resection are obvious risks. One task that may be at risk is writing, both because it requires intact language and memory function and because it is a very complex and cognitively demanding task.

Optimum Temperatures for Net Primary Productivity of Three Tropical Seagrass Species.

Rising sea water temperature will play a significant role in responses of the world's seagrass meadows to climate change. In this study, we investigated seasonal and latitudinal variation (spanning more than 1,500 km) in seagrass productivity, and the optimum temperatures at which maximum photosynthesis and net productivity (for the leaf and the whole plant) occurs, for three seagrass species (, and ). To obtain whole plant net production, photosynthesis, and respiration rates of leaves and the root/rhizome complex were measured using oxygen-sensitive optodes in closed incubation chambers at temperatures ranging from 15 to 43°C.

Identification and description of three families with familial Alzheimer disease that segregate variants in the SORL1 gene.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common form of dementia. The majority of AD cases are sporadic, while up to 5% are families with an early onset AD (EOAD). Mutations in one of the three genes: amyloid beta precursor protein (APP), presenilin 1 (PSEN1) or presenilin 2 (PSEN2) can be disease causing.

Echinometra sea urchins acclimatized to elevated pCO2 at volcanic vents outperform those under present-day pCO2 conditions.

Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations will significantly reduce ocean pH during the 21st century (ocean acidification, OA). This may hamper calcification in marine organisms such as corals and echinoderms, as shown in many laboratory-based experiments. Sea urchins are considered highly vulnerable to OA.

Simultaneous biosorption of selenium, arsenic and molybdenum with modified algal-based biochars.

Ash disposal waters from coal-fired power stations present a challenging water treatment scenario as they contain high concentrations of the oxyanions Se, As and Mo which are difficult to remove through conventional techniques. In an innovative process, macroalgae can be treated with Fe and processed through slow pyrolysis into Fe-biochar which has a high affinity for oxyanions. However, the effect of production conditions on the efficacy of Fe-biochar is poorly understood.

The complexity of biosorption treatments for oxyanions in a multi-element mine effluent.

Selenium (Se) is a contaminant in effluents from coal mines and coal-fired power stations, where it is encountered as the oxyanion selenate (SeO4(2-), hereafter Se(VI)). Se(VI) can be removed from solution with Fe-treated biosorbents, but the efficacy of these treatments in effluents with multiple contaminants is unclear. This study investigates the interactions between Se(VI) and the oxyanions SO4(2-) and NO3(-).