Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012;10(1-4):329-31.
doi: 10.1159/000334916. Epub 2012 Feb 1.

Neuroinflammation and blood-brain barrier changes in capillary amyloid angiopathy

Anna Carrano  1 , Jeroen J M Hoozemans, Saskia M van der Vies, Jack van Horssen, Helga E de Vries, Annemieke J M Rozemuller
Affiliations

Neuroinflammation and blood-brain barrier changes in capillary amyloid angiopathy

Anna Carrano et al. Neurodegener Dis. 2012.

Abstract

Introduction: β-Amyloid (Aβ) accumulation in cortical capillaries is a variant of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) referred to as capillary CAA (capCAA). capCAA is associated with a neuroinflammatory response. In vitro studies indicate that Aβ induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, mainly generated through NADPH oxidase (NOX), by activated microglia. ROS in turn can induce altered expression of tight junctions (TJ), which are essential for blood-brain barrier (BBB) function. Whether the function of the BBB is affected in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients with comorbid capCAA remains elusive. Cases with capCAA and no other AD-related changes allow studying capCAA-associated BBB alterations independent of AD pathology.

Aim: In this study, we have investigated BBB alterations in capCAA and addressed the role of the neuroinflammatory response.

Methods: Human postmortem brain tissue with capCAA was analyzed by immunohistochemical staining.

Results: In this study, we show for the first time a dramatic loss of TJ proteins claudin-5, occludin and ZO-1 in Aβ-laden capillaries. In addition, affected capillaries are associated with clusters of NOX-2-positive activated microglia. Disrupted BBB function was observed by increased presence of fibrinogen around the affected capillaries.

Conclusions: Our data provide support for the early observation that neuroinflammatory response is involved in the altered expression of TJs in endothelial cells and loss of BBB integrity in capCAA.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources