Detection of amyloid beta aggregates in the brain of BALB/c mice after Chlamydia pneumoniae infection.
Neuroinflammation, initiated by cerebral infection, is increasingly postulated as an aetiological factor in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated whether Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn) infection results in extracellular aggregation of amyloid beta (Abeta) in BALB/c mice. At 1 week post intranasal infection (p.i.), Cpn DNA was detected predominantly in the olfactory bulbs by PCR, whereas brains at 1 and 3 months p.i. were Cpn negative. At 1 and 3 months p.i., extracellular Abeta immunoreactivity was detected in the brain of Cpn-infected mice but also in the brain of mock-infected mice and mice that were neither Cpn infected nor mock infected. However, these extracellular Abeta aggregates showed morphological differences compared to extracellular Abeta aggregates detected in the brain of transgenic APP751(SL)/PS1(M146L) mice. These data do not unequivocally support the hypothesis that Cpn infection induces the formation of AD-like Abeta plaques in the brain of BALB/c mice, as suggested before. However, future studies are required to resolve these differences and to investigate whether Cpn is indeed an etiological factor in AD pathogenesis.
Boelen
Ellen
E
Department of Medical Microbiology, Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Eboe@lmib.azm.nl
Stassen
Frank R M
FR
van der Ven
André J A M
AJ
Lemmens
Marijke A M
MA
Steinbusch
Hellen P J
HP
Bruggeman
Cathrien A
CA
Schmitz
Christoph
C
Steinbusch
Harry W M
HW
D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D023521:Chlamydophila Infections / Q000473:pathology*; D016993:Chlamydophila pneumoniae; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics; D058225:Plaque, Amyloid / Q000469:parasitology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D010446:Peptide Fragments