title: Natural AD-Like Neuropathology in Octodon degus: Impaired Burrowing and Neuroinflammation.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, affecting more than 36 million people worldwide. Octodon degus, a South American rodent, has been found to spontaneously develop neuropathological signs of AD, including amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau deposits, as well as a decline in cognition with age. Firstly, the present work introduces a novel behavioral assessment for O. degus - the burrowing test - which appears to be a useful tool for detecting neurodegeneration in the O. degus model for AD. Such characterization has potentially wide-ranging implications, because many of these changes in species-typical behaviors are reminiscent of the impairments in activities of daily living (ADL), so characteristic of human AD. Furthermore, the present work characterizes the AD-like neuropathology in O. degus from a gene expression point of view, revealing a number of previously unreported AD biomarkers, which are found in human AD: amyloid precursor protein (APP), apolipoprotein E (ApoE), oxidative stress-related genes from the NFE2L2 and PPAR pathway, as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines and complement proteins, in agreement with the known link between neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation. In summary, the present results confirm a natural neuropathology in O. degus with similar characteristics to AD at behavioral, cellular and molecular levels. These characteristics put O. degus in a singular position as a natural rodent model for research into AD pathogenesis and therapeutics against AD.
authors: Robert M J
authors: RM
authors: Deacon
authors: Francisco J
authors: FJ
authors: Altimiras
authors: Enrique A
authors: EA
authors: Bazan-Leon
authors: Rhada D
authors: RD
authors: Pyarasani
authors: Fabiane M
authors: FM
authors: Nachtigall
authors: Leonardo S
authors: LS
authors: Santos
authors: Anthony G
authors: AG
authors: Tsolaki
authors: Lina
authors: L
authors: Pednekar
authors: Uday
authors: U
authors: Kishore
authors: Rodolfo R
authors: RR
authors: Biekofsky
authors: Rodrigo A
authors: RA
authors: Vasquez
authors: Biomedicine Division, Center for Systems Biotechnology, Fraunhofer Chile Research Foundation, Santiago, Chile. NEURO-DVI LLP, London, UK. pcogram@fraunhofer.cl.
authors: Patricia
authors: P
authors: Cogram
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D046329:Octodon