title: Early Alzheimer's disease-type pathology in the frontal cortex of wild mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei).
abstract: Amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau pathology have been described in the brains of captive aged great apes, but the natural progression of these age-related pathologies from wild great apes, including the gorilla, is unknown. In our previous study of Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) who were housed in American Zoos and Aquariums-accredited facilities, we found an age-related increase in Aβ-positive plaques and vasculature, tau-positive astrocytes, oligodendrocyte coiled bodies, and neuritic clusters in the neocortex as well as hippocampus in older animals. Here, we demonstrate that aged wild mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), who spent their entire lives in their natural habitat, also display an age-related increase in amyloid precursor protein (APP) and/or Aβ-immunoreactive blood vessels and plaques, but very limited tau pathology, in the frontal cortex. These results indicate that Aβ and tau lesions are age-related events that occur in the brain of gorillas living in captivity and in the wild.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA. Electronic address: Sylvia.Perez@DignityHealth.org.
authors.forename: Sylvia E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Chet C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Sherwood
authors.affiliation: Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Cranfield
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Erwin
authors.affiliation: Rwanda Development Board, Department of Tourism and Conservation, Kigali, Rwanda.
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mudakikwa
authors.affiliation: Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Hof
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA. Electronic address: Elliott.Mufson@DignityHealth.org.
authors.forename: Elliott J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Mufson
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D000836:Animals, Zoo; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D006071:Gorilla gorilla; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D019579:Neocortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D058225:Plaque, Amyloid / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D016875:tau Proteins
keywords: Aging; Amyloid; Cerebral cortex; Pathology; Tau; Wild great apes