title: Effects of chronic alcohol consumption on expression levels of APP and Aβ-producing enzymes.
abstract: Chronic alcohol consumption contributes to numerous diseases, including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and liver cirrhosis. Epidemiological studies have shown that excessive alcohol consumption is a risk factor for dementia. Along this line, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia and is caused by the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ plaques in neurons. In this study, we hypothesized that chronic ethanol consumption is associated with pathological processing of APP in AD. To investigate the relationship between chronic alcohol consumption and Aβ production, brain samples from rats fed an alcohol liquid diet for 5 weeks were analyzed. We show that the expression levels of APP, BACE1, and immature nicastrin were increased in the cerebellum, hippocampus, and striatum of the alcohol-fed group compared to the control group. Total nicastrin and PS1 levels were induced in the hippocampus of alcohol-fed rats. These data suggest that the altered expression of APP and Aβ-producing enzymes possibly contributes to the chronic alcohol consumption-mediated pathogenesis of AD.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju 500-712, Korea.
authors.forename: Sae-Rom
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hye-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Sunghee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Sung-Pil
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Min Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Young-Kwang
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Yuri
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Sang-Ha
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Baik
authors.forename: Jong-Sung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: A-Ryeong
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Gwon
authors.forename: Dong Kwon
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Chan-Ho
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sun-Mee
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kye Won
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Dong-Gyu
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Jo
mesh_terms: D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases / Q000378:metabolism*; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; C413604:nicastrin protein; D000431:Ethanol; D053829:Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases; D016282:Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases; C509281:Bace1 protein, rat