NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES Flashcards
Disease
Alzheimer’s disease
Parkinson’s disease
Huntington’s disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
What is the most common cause for dementia?
Alzheimer
Alzheimer’s disease: epidemiology
6th leading cause of death
- 6.5M people with AD (1 in 9 over 65)
- Increase with age (primary risk factor)
- More common with women (2x)
- Number of people with AD is increasing
Alzheimer’s disease: age of onset
Early Onset AD (familial)
Late Onset AD (sporadic)
Early Onset AD
Age of onset <65 yrs of age
- <5% of AD cases
- Familial
- Mendelian genetics: Autosomal dominant inheritance (only need one gene)
- 3 known genes (PSEN1, PSEN2, APP)
Late Onset AD
Age of onset >65 yrs of age
- >95% of AD cases
- Can be familial (mainly sporadic)
- Complex gentic with mutiple genetic risk factors (disease associated SNPs)
Alzheimer’s disease: risk factors
Age
Family History
Genetics (shared genes or environment)
- APOE
– E4 Increase Risk
– E2 Decrease Risk
Alzheimer’s disease: health disparities
African American and Hispanic are more likely to get it
Alzheimer’s disease: Clinical Symptoms
Progressive declines that are different than typical age-related changes
- Memory loss, Confusion about time or pace, Visual and spatial problems, Decreased or poor judgement, Social withdrawal, Changes in mood, personality and behavior
Most common cause of death is infections and damage in lungs
Alzheimer’s disease: gross anatomy
- Decrease in overall brain weight
- Cortical atrophy
- Loss of pigmented neurons in the locus coeruleus
- Areas preserved (Pigmented neurons in the substantia nigra, Occipital lobe, Cerebellum)
What happens in Cortical Atrophy
Cortex Shrinks
- Widening of sulcal spaces and narrowing of gyri
- Enlarged ventricles
- Degeneration in temporal, parietal, and frontal lobes
Where do the loss of pigmented neurons happen?
In locus coeruleus
What areas gets perserved?
- Pigmented neurons in the substantia nigra
- Occipital lobe
- Cerebellum
Alzheimer’s disease: pathological hallmarks
Hallmarks required for diagnosis
- Amyloid plaques: aggregates of amyloid fibrils outside neurons, amyloid beta (Aβ)
- Neurofibrillary tangles: accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau protein inside neurons, tau
Neuronal Loss:
- Glutamatergic pyramidal neurons in entorhinal cortex and hippocampus
- Cholinergic neurons in basal forebrain
- Noradrenergic neuron in locus coeruleus
Amyloid plaques involves? and where?
It involves the aggregation of amyloid fibrils
- It happens outside neurons (amyloid beta)
Neurofibrillary tangles involves the accumulation of? and where
Involves the accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau protein
- Happen INSIDE neurons, tau
Which neuron in basal forebrain?
affected by neuronal loss
Cholinergic
Which neurons in locus coeruleus?
affected by neuronal loss
Noradrenergic
Which neurons in in entorhinal cortex and hippocampus?
affected by neuronal loss
Glutamatergic pyramidal neurons
What do acetylcholinesterase inhibitor do?
it inhibit ACH receptors
When you get Late onset AD you develop?
Plaques, Tangles (Hallmarks) and your APOE gene mutate
Movement Disorders
Hypokinetics Disorders
- Parkinson’s Disease
Hyperkinetic Disorders
- Huntington’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease: epidemiology
- Age of onset
– Typically 60s-70s (~95%)
– Early onset: before 50 (~5%) - 60000 new cases each year (1-2% of population above 65)
- 1 M people in the US living with PD
- More COMMON in men in the US
- FASTEST growing neurological disease
Parkinson’s disease: environmental risk factors
Increased risk of PD
- Exposure to specific types of pesticides and industrial toxicants
- Exposure to heavy metals
- Head injury
Decreased risk of PD
- Cigarette smoking
- Caffeine consumption
- Physical activity
Do smoking increase or decrease your risk of Parkinson’s disease?
Decrease
Parkinson’s disease: genetic risk factors
Familial PD
- SNCA (α-synuclein) ** **
– protein found in Lewy bodies, one of the pathological hallmarks of disease
- LRRK2 (Most common)
- GBA (Most common)
Sporadic PD
- SNCA (α-synuclein) ** **
- LRRK2 (Most common mutat)
- GBA (Most common)
- HLA genes