Alzheimer’s disease-like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin
Date
01/04/2023Author
Grant ID
NE/R015007/1
EP/P030017/1
A1163
Keywords
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease and the primary cause of disability and dependency among elderly humans worldwide. AD is thought to be a disease unique to humans although several other animals develop some aspects of AD-like pathology. Odontocetes (toothed whales) share traits with humans that suggest they may be susceptible to AD. The brains of 22 stranded odontocetes of five different species were examined using immunohistochemistry to investigate the presence or absence of neuropathological hallmarks of AD: amyloid-beta plaques, phospho-tau accumulation and gliosis. Immunohistochemistry revealed that all aged animals accumulated amyloid plaque pathology. In three animals of three different species of odontocete, there was co-occurrence of amyloid-beta plaques, intraneuronal accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau, neuropil threads and neuritic plaques. One animal showed well-developed neuropil threads, phospho-tau accumulation and neuritic plaques, but no amyloid plaques. Microglia and astrocytes were present as expected in all brain samples examined, but we observed differences in cell morphology and numbers between individual animals. The simultaneous occurrence of amyloid-beta plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau pathology in the brains of odontocetes shows that these three species develop AD-like neuropathology spontaneously. The significance of this pathology with respect to the health and, ultimately, death of the animals remains to be determined. However, it may contribute to the cause(s) of unexplained live-stranding in some odontocete species and supports the 'sick-leader' theory whereby healthy conspecifics in a pod mass strand due to high social cohesion.
Citation
Vacher , M C , Durrant , C S , Rose , J , Hall , A J , Spires-Jones , T L , Gunn-Moore , F & Dagleish , M P 2023 , ' Alzheimer’s disease-like neuropathology in three species of oceanic dolphin ' , European Journal of Neuroscience , vol. 57 , no. 7 , pp. 1161-1179 . https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.15900
Publication
European Journal of Neuroscience
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0953-816XType
Journal article
Description
Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. MCV was supported, in part, by the Erasmus+ mobility program. CD is a Race Against Dementia Dyson Fellow and Emerging Leader at the UK Dementia Research Institute. JR is supported by the UK Dementia Research Institute. AJH was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (Grant No. NE/R015007/1). TS-J is supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 681181) and the UK Dementia Research Institute, which receives its funding from DRI Ltd, funded by the UK Medical Research Council, Alzheimer’s Society, and Alzheimer’s Research UK. FG-M is supported by the RSMacDonald Charitable Trust, Rosetrees Trust and the EPSRC programme grant EP/P030017/1. MPD was funded by the Scottish Government and undertakes the detailed histological examination of cetacean tissues for SMASS which is supported by Marine Scotland, a division of the Scottish Government, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (defra), a department of the United Kingdom Government.Collections
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