Blood-based biomarkers of cerebral small vessel disease.

Age-associated cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) represents a clinically heterogenous condition, arising from diverse microvascular mechanisms. These lead to chronic cerebrovascular dysfunction and carry a substantial risk of subsequent stroke and vascular cognitive impairment in aging populations. Owing to advances in neuroimaging, in vivo visualization of cerebral vasculature abnormities and detection of CSVD, including lacunes, microinfarcts, microbleeds and white matter lesions, is now possible, but remains a resource-, skills- and time-intensive approach.

Serum Brevican as a Biomarker of Cerebrovascular Disease in an Elderly Cognitively Impaired Cohort.

In the brain, the extracellular matrix (ECM) composition shapes the neuronal microenvironment and can undergo substantial changes with cerebral pathology. Brevican is integral to the formation of the ECM's neuroprotective perineuronal nets (PNNs). Decreased brevican levels were reported in vascular dementia (VaD) but not in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Serum Placental Growth Factor as a Marker of Cerebrovascular Disease Burden in Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Concomitant cerebrovascular diseases (CeVD) have been identified as an important determinant of Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression. Development of robust blood-based biomarkers will provide critical tools to evaluate prognosis and potential interventional strategies for AD with CeVD.

Objective: This study investigated circulating placental growth factor (PlGF), a potent pro-angiogenic factor related to endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation, in an Asian memory clinic cohort of non-demented individuals as well as AD, including its associations with neuroimaging markers of CeVD.

Elevated Soluble TNF-Receptor 1 in the Serum of Predementia Subjects with Cerebral Small Vessel Disease.

Tumor necrosis factor-receptor 1 (TNF-R1)-mediated signaling is critical to the regulation of inflammatory responses. TNF-R1 can be proteolytically released into systemic blood circulation in a soluble form (sTNF-R1), where it binds to circulating TNF and functions to attenuate TNF-mediated inflammation. Increases of peripheral sTNF-R1 have been reported in both Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia and vascular dementia (VaD).

Low Plasma Ergothioneine Predicts Cognitive and Functional Decline in an Elderly Cohort Attending Memory Clinics.

Low blood concentrations of the diet-derived compound ergothioneine (ET) have been associated with cognitive impairment and cerebrovascular disease (CeVD) in cross-sectional studies, but it is unclear whether ET levels can predict subsequent cognitive and functional decline. Here, we examined the temporal relationships between plasma ET status and cognition in a cohort of 470 elderly subjects attending memory clinics in Singapore. All participants underwent baseline plasma ET measurements as well as neuroimaging for CeVD and brain atrophy.

Low plasma ergothioneine levels are associated with neurodegeneration and cerebrovascular disease in dementia.

Ergothioneine (ET) is a dietary amino-thione with strong antioxidant and cytoprotective properties and has possible therapeutic potential for neurodegenerative and vascular diseases. Decreased blood concentrations of ET have been found in patients with mild cognitive impairment, but its status in neurodegenerative and vascular dementias is currently unclear. To address this, a cross-sectional study was conducted on 496 participants, consisting of 88 with no cognitive impairment (NCI), 201 with cognitive impairment, no dementia (CIND) as well as 207 with dementia, of whom 160 have Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and 47 have vascular dementia.

Nanoparticles induce apoptosis via mediating diverse cellular pathways.

With a special size and structure, nanoparticles (NPs) have excellent application prospects in various fields and are widely used in the biomedicine, cosmetics and chemical industries nowadays. However, there have been some reports on the biosafety of this new type of material, pointing out its cytotoxicity in inducing apoptosis. With different physicochemical properties in size, shape, surface charge, and ligand, NPs exhibit different biocompatibilities when interacting with different cells.