Cerebral serotonin 4 receptors and amyloid-β in early Alzheimer's disease
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The 5-HT4 receptor may play a role in memory and learning and 5-HT4 receptor activation has been suggested to modulate acetylcholine release and to reduce amyloid-ß (Aß) accumulation. The aim of this study was for the first time to investigate the in vivo cerebral 5-HT4 receptor binding in early Alzheimer disease (AD) patients in relation to cortical Aß burden. Eleven newly diagnosed untreated AD patients (mean MMSE 24, range 19–27) and twelve age- and gender-matched healthy controls underwent a two-hour dynamic [11C]SB207145 PET scan to measure the binding potential of the 5-HT4 receptor. All AD patients and eight healthy controls additionally underwent a [11C]PIB PET scan to measure the cortical Aß burden. When AD patients were defined on clinical criteria, no difference in cerebral 5-HT4 receptor binding between AD patients and healthy controls was found (p = 0.54). However, when individuals were reassigned to groups according to their amyloid status, the PIB-positive individuals had 13% higher 5-HT4 receptor levels than PIB-negative individuals (p = 0.02) and the importance of classification of groups is emphasized. The 5-HT4 receptor binding was a positively correlated to Aß burden (p = 0.03) and negatively to MMSE score of the AD patients (p = 0.02). Our data suggests that cerebral 5-HT4 receptor upregulation starts at a preclinical stage of and continues while dementia is still at a mild stage, which contrasts other receptor subtypes. We speculate that this may either be a compensatory effect of decreased levels of interstitial 5-HT, an attempt to improve cognitive function, increase acetylcholine release or to counteract Aß accumulation.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Journal of Alzheimer's Disease |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 3 |
Pages (from-to) | 457-66 |
Number of pages | 10 |
ISSN | 1387-2877 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
ID: 38129018