title: Alzheimer's disease in the retina: imaging retinal aβ plaques for early diagnosis and therapy assessment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Definite Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis at early stages is vital for targeting intervention, yet currently unavailable. Noninvasive detection of the pathological hallmark, amyloid-β protein (Aβ) plaques, is limited in the brain. However, the existence of Aβ plaques in the retina, possibly at presymptomatic stages, may improve early detection of AD.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To summarize clinical and preclinical evidence showing that the retina, an accessible part of the central nervous system, displays abnormalities in AD, especially Aβ plaque pathology. The ability to monitor in vivo retinal plaque dynamics in response to immunotherapy is also assessed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Literature analysis of retinal AD pathology and imaging is provided. In our studies, systemic curcumin is administered to enable monitoring of retinal Aβ plaques in live APP(SWE)/PS1(Δ)(E9) transgenic mice by optical imaging.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Visual and retinal abnormalities, including early manifestation of retinal Aβ plaque pathology, have been documented in AD patients and animal models. In mouse models, retinal Aβ plaques accumulate with age and decrease in response to immunotherapy, consistent with brain pathology. Here, we demonstrate that retinal plaques can be individually monitored in real time following glatiramer acetate immunization.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Translation of noninvasive retinal-plaque imaging to humans could eventually facilitate early and accurate AD diagnosis and therapy assessment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Research Institute, Los Angeles, Calif, USA.
authors.forename: Yosef
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koronyo
authors.forename: Brenda C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Salumbides
authors.forename: Keith L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Black
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koronyo-Hamaoui
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D003474:Curcumin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods; D053764:Presenilin-1 / Q000235:genetics; D012160:Retina / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; C508853:PSEN1 protein, human; D053764:Presenilin-1; D003474:Curcumin