TY - JOUR
T1 - Alzheimer's-related changes in non-demented essential tremor patients vs. controls
T2 - Links between tau and tremor?
AU - Pan, Jie J.
AU - Lee, Michelle
AU - Honig, Lawrence S.
AU - Vonsattel, Jean Paul G.
AU - Faust, Phyllis L.
AU - Louis, Elan D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by R01 NS42859 , P50AG008702 , and UL1RR024156 ( National Institutes of Health , Bethesda, MD), and the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain .
PY - 2014/6
Y1 - 2014/6
N2 - Background: In addition to tremor, patients with essential tremor (ET) may exhibit non-motor features, including a range of cognitive deficits. Several prospective, population-based epidemiological studies have reported an association between ET and incident dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD). Moreover, in a brain repository-based study, a larger than expected proportion of ET patients also developed pathological changes characteristic of progressive supranuclear palsy, further suggesting a link between ET and tau pathology. Methods: We selected a group of ET patients that were free of dementia clinically and without AD on postmortem examination. Our hypothesis was that neuronal tauopathic burden would be higher in the brains of these ET patients compared to controls. We compared Braak stage for neuronal tangles and Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) scores for neuritic plaques in the two groups. Results: The two groups were similar in age (82.6 ± 6.0 vs. 80.4 ± 8.1, p = 0.22). The 40 ET patients had a higher Braak neurofibrillary stage than 32 controls (means: 2.2 ± 1.2 vs. 1.2 ± 1.1; medians: 2.0 vs. 1.0, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, CERAD scores for neuritic plaques were similar in patients and controls (means: 0.6 ± 0.9 vs. 0.5 ± 0.6; medians: 0.0 vs. 0.0, p = 0.83). Conclusion: While ET itself is not a tauopathy (i.e., a neurodegenerative disorder among whose main features are accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau protein), ET may predispose individuals to accumulate more widespread cellular tau aggregates, and thus tau could play a central role in the cognitive impairment that can accompany ET.
AB - Background: In addition to tremor, patients with essential tremor (ET) may exhibit non-motor features, including a range of cognitive deficits. Several prospective, population-based epidemiological studies have reported an association between ET and incident dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD). Moreover, in a brain repository-based study, a larger than expected proportion of ET patients also developed pathological changes characteristic of progressive supranuclear palsy, further suggesting a link between ET and tau pathology. Methods: We selected a group of ET patients that were free of dementia clinically and without AD on postmortem examination. Our hypothesis was that neuronal tauopathic burden would be higher in the brains of these ET patients compared to controls. We compared Braak stage for neuronal tangles and Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) scores for neuritic plaques in the two groups. Results: The two groups were similar in age (82.6 ± 6.0 vs. 80.4 ± 8.1, p = 0.22). The 40 ET patients had a higher Braak neurofibrillary stage than 32 controls (means: 2.2 ± 1.2 vs. 1.2 ± 1.1; medians: 2.0 vs. 1.0, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, CERAD scores for neuritic plaques were similar in patients and controls (means: 0.6 ± 0.9 vs. 0.5 ± 0.6; medians: 0.0 vs. 0.0, p = 0.83). Conclusion: While ET itself is not a tauopathy (i.e., a neurodegenerative disorder among whose main features are accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau protein), ET may predispose individuals to accumulate more widespread cellular tau aggregates, and thus tau could play a central role in the cognitive impairment that can accompany ET.
KW - Alzheimer's disease
KW - Braak
KW - Dementia
KW - Essential tremor
KW - Neurofibrillary tangle
KW - Tau
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U2 - 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2014.03.003
DO - 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2014.03.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 24679899
AN - SCOPUS:84900030232
SN - 1353-8020
VL - 20
SP - 655
EP - 658
JO - Parkinsonism and Related Disorders
JF - Parkinsonism and Related Disorders
IS - 6
ER -