Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, 3515 E. Fletcher Avenue, Tampa, FL 33613, USA.
Med Hypotheses. 2013 Nov;81(5):842-5. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2013.09.012. Epub 2013 Sep 17.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are both significant clinical problems characterized by debilitating symptoms with limited available treatments. Interestingly, both neurological diseases are characterized by neurovascular damage. This impaired brain vasculature correlates with the onset of dementia, a symptom associated with hippocampal degeneration seen in both diseases. We posit that vascular damage is a major pathological link between TBI and AD, in that TBI victims are predisposed to AD symptoms due to altered brain vasculature; vice versa, the progression of AD pathology may be accelerated by TBI especially when the brain insult worsens hippocampal degeneration. Our hypothesis is supported by recent data reporting expedited AD pathology in presymptomatic transgenic AD mice subjected to TBI. If our hypothesis is correct, treatments targeted at repairing the vasculature may prove effective at treating both diseases and preventing the evolution of AD symptoms in TBI victims.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）和创伤性脑损伤（TBI）都是严重的临床问题，其特征是症状严重，但治疗方法有限。有趣的是，这两种神经退行性疾病都表现出神经血管损伤的特征。这种受损的脑血管与痴呆的发生有关，痴呆是这两种疾病中都可见到的与海马体退化相关的症状。我们假设血管损伤是 TBI 和 AD 之间的一个主要病理联系，因为 TBI 患者由于脑血管改变而易患 AD 症状；反之，AD 病理的进展可能会因 TBI 而加速，特别是当大脑损伤恶化海马体退化时。我们的假设得到了最近的数据支持，这些数据报告了在经历 TBI 的、有先兆的转基因 AD 小鼠中 AD 病理的加速进展。如果我们的假设是正确的，那么针对血管修复的治疗方法可能对治疗这两种疾病和预防 TBI 患者 AD 症状的发展有效。
