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36/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 36 out of 100. Disease mechanisms

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Plain-language summary

Unlabelled Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in individuals over the age of 65 years. The most prevalent genetic risk factor for AD is the ε4 allele of apolipoprotein E (ApoE4), and novel AD treatments that target ApoE are being considered. One unresolved question in ApoE biology is whether ApoE is necessary for healthy brain function. ApoE knock-out (KO) mice have synaptic loss and cognitive dysfunction; however, these findings are complicated by the fact that ApoE knock-out mice have highly elevated plasma lipid levels, which may independently affect brain function. To bypass the effect of ApoE loss on plasma lipids, we generated a novel mouse model that expresses ApoE normally in peripheral tissues, but has severely reduced ApoE in the brain, allowing us to study brain ApoE loss in the context of a normal plasma lipid profile. We found that these brain ApoE knock-out (bEKO) mice had synaptic loss and dysfunction similar to that of ApoE KO mice; however, the bEKO mice did not have the learning and memory impairment observed in ApoE KO mice. Moreover, we found that the memory deficit in the ApoE KO mice was specific to female mice and was fully rescued in female bEKO mice. Furthermore, while the AMPA/NMDA ratio was reduced in ApoE KO mice, it was unchanged in bEKO mice compared with controls. These findings suggest that plasma lipid levels can influence cognition and synaptic function independent of ApoE expression in the brain. Significance statement One proposed treatment strategy for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the reduction of ApoE, whose ε4 isoform is the most common genetic risk factor for the disease. A major concern of this strategy is that an animal model of ApoE deficiency, the ApoE knock-out (KO) mouse, has reduced synapses and cognitive impairment; however, these mice also develop dyslipidemia and severe atherosclerosis. Here, we have shown that genetic restoration of plasma ApoE to wild-type levels normalizes plasma lipids in ApoE KO mice. While this does not rescue synaptic loss, it does completely restore learning and memory in the mice, suggesting that both CNS and plasma ApoE are independent parameters that affect brain health.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Lane-Donovan, C., Wong, W. M., Durakoglugil, M. S., Wasser, C. R., Jiang, S., Xian, X., et al. (2016). Genetic Restoration of Plasma ApoE Improves Cognition and Partially Restores Synaptic Defects in ApoE-Deficient Mice. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.1054-16.2016

Vancouver

Lane-Donovan C, Wong WM, Durakoglugil MS, Wasser CR, Jiang S, Xian X, et al. Genetic Restoration of Plasma ApoE Improves Cognition and Partially Restores Synaptic Defects in ApoE-Deficient Mice. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. 2016. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.1054-16.2016. PMID: 27683909.

BibTeX

@article{lanedonovan2016-27683909,
  author  = {Lane-Donovan, C. and Wong, W. M. and Durakoglugil, M. S. and Wasser, C. R. and Jiang, S. and Xian, X. and Herz, J.},
  title   = {{Genetic Restoration of Plasma ApoE Improves Cognition and Partially Restores Synaptic Defects in ApoE-Deficient Mice}},
  journal = {The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience},
  year    = {2016},
  doi     = {10.1523/jneurosci.1054-16.2016},
  pmid    = {27683909},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.1054-16.2016}
}

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How to read this study

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Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

ApoE knock-out (KO) mice have synaptic loss and cognitive dysfunction; however, these findings are complicated by the fact that ApoE knock-out mice have highly elevated plasma lipid levels, which may independently affect brain function.
We found that these brain ApoE knock-out (bEKO) mice had synaptic loss and dysfunction similar to that of ApoE KO mice; however, the bEKO mice did not have the learning and memory impairment observed in ApoE KO mice.
Moreover, we found that the memory deficit in the ApoE KO mice was specific to female mice and was fully rescued in female bEKO mice.
Furthermore, while the AMPA/NMDA ratio was reduced in ApoE KO mice, it was unchanged in bEKO mice compared with controls.
These findings suggest that plasma lipid levels can influence cognition and synaptic function independent of ApoE expression in the brain.

Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 36/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 36 out of 100.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience)
Journal's citation record	— / 4	No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2016 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Laboratory or animal study (title names “mice”) — scores zero
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	— / 7	No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score
Citations per year	— / 5	No citation count or no year — left out of this score
Impact for its field and year	— / 6	No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score
Cited by studies here	— / 6	Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score
Still being cited	— / 4	No yearly citation counts — left out of this score
Senior author's track record	— / 4	Senior author's record not available — left out of this score
Institution's track record	— / 3	No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score
Multicenter collaboration	— / 3	Institutions not listed — left out of this score
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 27683909)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points	21 / 58	Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 36 out of 100.
Total	36 / 100	—

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