Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Policlinico Tor Vergata, Universitá di Roma Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2011;26(1):181-6. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2011-110116.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative process characterized by progressive neuronal degeneration, reduced levels of neurotransmitters, and altered forms of synaptic plasticity. In animal models of AD, amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau proteins are supposed to interfere with synaptic transmission. In the current study, we investigated the correlation between motor cortical plasticity, measured with 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and the levels of Aβ₁₋₄₂, total tau (t-Tau), and phosphorylated tau (p-Tau) detected in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of AD patients. We found that the overall rTMS after effects were milder in AD patients in comparison with controls. In AD patients the amount of rTMS-induced inhibition correlated with CSF t-Tau, but not with Aβ₁₋₄₂ CSF levels. Surprisingly, higher CSF t-Tau levels were associated to a stronger inhibition of the motor evoked potentials, implying that the expected effects of the 1 Hz rTMS protocol were more evident in patients with more pathological t-Tau CSF levels. These data could be interpreted as the consequence of CSF t-Tau mediated abnormal excitatory activity and could suggest that CSF t-Tau may impact mechanisms of cortical plasticity.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）是一种神经退行性疾病，其特征是神经元进行性退化、神经递质水平降低以及突触可塑性改变。在 AD 的动物模型中，淀粉样蛋白-β（Aβ）和 tau 蛋白被认为会干扰突触传递。在本研究中，我们研究了使用 1 Hz 重复经颅磁刺激（rTMS）测量的运动皮质可塑性与 AD 患者脑脊液（CSF）中检测到的 Aβ₁₋₄₂、总 tau（t-Tau）和磷酸化 tau（p-Tau）水平之间的相关性。我们发现，与对照组相比，AD 患者的整体 rTMS 后效应更轻微。在 AD 患者中，rTMS 诱导的抑制量与 CSF t-Tau 相关，但与 CSF Aβ₁₋₄₂水平无关。令人惊讶的是，更高的 CSF t-Tau 水平与运动诱发电位的抑制更强相关，这意味着在 CSF t-Tau 水平更高的患者中，1 Hz rTMS 方案的预期效果更为明显。这些数据可以解释为 CSF t-Tau 介导的异常兴奋性活动的结果，并可能表明 CSF t-Tau 可能会影响皮质可塑性的机制。
