Assessment of activation of the plasma kallikrein-kinin system in frontal and temporal cortex in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia

Emma L. Ashby, Seth Love*, Patrick G. Kehoe

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Decreased cerebral blood flow and blood-brain barrier disruption are features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The plasma kallikrein-kinin system modulates cerebrovascular tone through release of vasoactive bradykinin (BK). Cerebroventricular infusion of A beta 1-40 enhances BK release, suggesting that the activity of this system may be elevated in AD. We investigated the profile of the activating protease of this system, plasma kallikrein (PK), in frontal and temporal brain tissue from postmortem confirmed cases of AD, vascular dementia (VaD), and controls. Measurements of neuron specific enolase messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and protein were used to adjust for neuronal loss. Adjusted PK mRNA was significantly increased in the frontal cortex in AD, and the frontal and temporal cortex in VaD. Similar trends were seen for PK protein level in AD and VaD. PK activity was significantly increased in the frontal and temporal cortex in AD. Increased PK activity in AD is likely to contribute to increased BK release and may thereby influence cerebral blood flow and vascular permeability. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Translated title of the contributionAssessment of activation of the plasma kallikrein-kinin system in frontal and temporal cortex in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1345-1355
Number of pages11
JournalNeurobiology of Aging
Volume33
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2012

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Research Groups and Themes

  • Cerebrovascular and Dementia Research Group

Keywords

  • RISK-FACTORS
  • HMPAO-SPECT
  • Vascular dementia
  • Bradykinin
  • AMYLOID PRECURSOR PROTEIN
  • CONTACT SYSTEM
  • Plasma kallikrein
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Kallikrein-kinin system
  • BRADYKININ
  • HUMAN TISSUES
  • HAGEMAN-FACTOR
  • FACTOR-XII
  • BETA
  • BLOOD-BRAIN-BARRIER

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