University of California, Irvine, California 92697
University of California, Irvine, California 92697.
J Neurosci. 2024 May 15;44(20):e2366232024. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2366-23.2024.
Aging dogs serve as a valuable preclinical model for Alzheimer's disease (AD) due to their natural age-related development of β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques, human-like metabolism, and large brains that are ideal for studying structural brain aging trajectories from serial neuroimaging. Here we examined the effects of chronic treatment with the calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) tacrolimus or the nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT)-inhibiting compound Q134R on age-related canine brain atrophy from a longitudinal study in middle-aged beagles (36 females, 7 males) undergoing behavioral enrichment. Annual MRI was analyzed using modern, automated techniques for region-of-interest-based and voxel-based volumetric assessments. We found that the frontal lobe showed accelerated atrophy with age, while the caudate nucleus remained relatively stable. Remarkably, the hippocampus increased in volume in all dogs. None of these changes were influenced by tacrolimus or Q134R treatment. Our results suggest that behavioral enrichment can prevent atrophy and increase the volume of the hippocampus but does not prevent aging-associated prefrontal cortex atrophy.
衰老的狗由于其自然的与年龄相关的β-淀粉样蛋白(Aβ)斑块的发展、类似人类的新陈代谢和大脑较大,因此成为阿尔茨海默病(AD)的有价值的临床前模型,非常适合从连续神经影像学研究结构脑衰老轨迹。在这里,我们检查了慢性使用钙调神经磷酸酶抑制剂(CNI)他克莫司或核因子激活的 T 细胞(NFAT)抑制化合物 Q134R 对接受行为强化的中年比格犬(36 只雌性,7 只雄性)进行的纵向研究中与年龄相关的犬脑萎缩的影响。使用基于感兴趣区域和体素的容积评估的现代自动化技术分析每年的 MRI。我们发现额叶随年龄增长而加速萎缩,而尾状核则相对稳定。值得注意的是,所有狗的海马体体积都增加了。这些变化都不受他克莫司或 Q134R 治疗的影响。我们的结果表明,行为强化可以预防萎缩和增加海马体的体积,但不能预防与衰老相关的前额叶皮层萎缩。