Alzheimer's

Question 1

alzheimer’s disease is a progressive degenerative disease of the brain accounting for the majority of what in the UK?

Answer 1

• dementia

Question 2

name some risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 2

• increasing age
• FH of alzheimer’s disease
• inheritance - AD trait
• apoprotein E allele E4 - encodes a cholesterol transport protein
• caucasian ethnicity
• down’s syndrome

Question 3

what mutations are relevant to Alzheimer’s?

Answer 3

mutations in:
- amyloid precursor protein (chromosome 21)
- presenilin 1 (chromosome 14)
- presenilin 2 (chromosome 1)

Question 4

what are the macroscopic pathological changes in Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 4

macroscopic:
- widespread cerebral atrophy, particularly involving the cortex and hippocampus

Question 5

what are the microscopic pathological changes in Alzheimer’s disease?

Answer 5

microscopic:
- cortical plaques due to deposition of type A-Beta-amyloid protein and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles caused by abnormal aggregation of the tau protein
- hyperphosphorylation of the tau protein has been linked to AD
(phosphorylation negatively regulates Tau binding to microtubules)

Question 6

what are the biochemical pathological changes in AD?

Answer 6

biochemical:
- there is a deficit of acetylcholine from damage to an ascending forebrain projection

Question 7

what are neurofibrillary tangles?

Answer 7

• paired helical filaments are partly made from a protein called tau
• tau is a protein that interacts w tubulin to stabilize microtubules and promote tubulin assembly into microtubules
• in AD are tau proteins are excessively phosphorylated, imparing its function