title: Capillary cerebral amyloid angiopathy is associated with vessel occlusion and cerebral blood flow disturbances.
abstract: The role of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is not fully understood. Here, we studied whether CAA is associated with alterations in microvascularisation in transgenic mouse models and in the human brain. APP23 mice at 25-26 months of age exhibited severe CAA in thalamic vessels whereas APP51/16 mice did not. Wild-type littermates were free of CAA. We found CAA-related capillary occlusion within the thalamus of APP23 mice but not in APP51/16 and wild-type mice. Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) showed blood flow alterations in the thalamic vessels of APP23 mice. CAA-related capillary occlusion in the branches of the thalamoperforating arteries of APP23 mice, thereby, corresponded to the occurrence of blood flow disturbances. Similarly, CAA-related capillary occlusion was observed in the human occipital cortex of AD cases but less frequently in controls. These results indicate that capillary CAA can result in capillary occlusion and is associated with cerebral blood flow disturbances providing an additional mechanism for toxic effects of the amyloid beta-protein in AD.
authors: Department of Neuropathology, University of Bonn, D-53105 Bonn, Germany. Dietmar.Thal@uni-ulm.de
authors: Dietmar Rudolf
authors: DR
authors: Thal
authors: Estibaliz
authors: E
authors: Capetillo-Zarate
authors: Sergey
authors: S
authors: Larionov
authors: Matthias
authors: M
authors: Staufenbiel
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Zurbruegg
authors: Nicolau
authors: N
authors: Beckmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002196:Capillaries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016657:Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D055806:Microvessels / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology; D013045:Species Specificity; D013788:Thalamus / Q000098:blood supply / Q000503:physiopathology