Altered ingestive behavior, weight changes, and intact olfactory sense in an APP overexpression model.
Transgenic APP23 mice were generated to model Alzheimer's disease. The APP23 model develops pathological features, learning deficits, and memory deficits analogous to dementing patients. In this report, transgenic mice exhibited several behavioral disturbances indicating the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms of dementia. Aiming to verify whether the model also develops other behavioral problems, the authors investigated ingestive behavior in APP23 males of 3, 6 and 12 months. In addition, body weights of a naive male group were longitudinally monitored starting at weaning. Olfactory acuity was evaluated in mice of different age groups. Although olfactory functioning of APP23 mice appeared intact, they drank more and took more food pellets compared with wild-type littermates during a 1-week registration period. From the age of 4.5 weeks onward, APP23 males weighed significantly less than their control littermates, whereas this difference became more prominent with increasing age. Our results suggest the presence of a hypermetabolic state in this model. This is the first report, evidencing the presence of changes in eating and drinking behavior in a single transgenic Alzheimer mouse model.
Laboratory of Neurochemistry and Behaviour, Institute Born-Bunge, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
Ellen
E
Vloeberghs
Debby
D
Van Dam
Frieda
F
Franck
Jan
J
Serroyen
Molenberghs
M
Geert
Matthias
M
Staufenbiel
Peter Paul
PP
De Deyn
D000367:Age Factors; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000235:genetics*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001835:Body Weight / Q000235:genetics*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004327:Drinking Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009833:Olfactory Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012903:Smell / Q000235:genetics
D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor