By Dr. Priyom Bose, Ph.D.Dec 25 2022Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc. In elderly adults, the most common neurodegenerative disease is Alzheimer's disease . It is also the leading cause of dependency and disability. Besides humans, many other animals have been seen to develop certain aspects of AD-like pathology.
Background Antibodies eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a free copy AD has affected millions of older adults worldwide, and its economic impact in the UK alone has been estimated to be over £20 billion annually. When pathognomonic lesions are present beyond a certain stage, disease progression and neurodegeneration occur. This may result in impaired learning skills, memory, communication, and the ability to perform daily tasks.
About the Study For this study, samples from specific regions of the brain from 22 stranded odontocetes belonging to five different species were examined. These included the Risso's dolphin , long-finned pilot whale , white-beaked dolphin , harbor porpoise , and bottlenose dolphin . Immunohistochemistry/fluorescence was used to detect the presence of known markers of AD-like neuropathology. These hallmarks are gliosis, phospho-tau accumulation, and amyloid-beta plaques.
In all brain samples that were examined, microglia and astrocytes were present. Although this was expected, differences in cell numbers and morphology were observed between animals. The three species mentioned above were deemed to develop AD-like neuropathology spontaneously, owing to the concurrent occurrence of hyperphosphorylated tau pathology and APs in the brain. Future research must evaluate the implications of this pathology for overall health and, ultimately, death.