CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Age is one of the main factors involved in the development of neurological illnesses, in particularAlzheimer and it iswidely held that the rapid aging of the world population is accompanied by a rise in the prevalence and incidence of Alzheimer disease. However, evidence fromrecent decades indicates that Cu and Cho overload are emerging causative factors in neurodegeneration, a hypothesis that has been partially investigated in experimental models. The link between these two variables and the onset of Alzheimer disease has opened up interesting new possibilities requiring more in-depth analysis. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the effect of the association of Cu + Cho (CuCho) as a possible synergistic factor in the development of an Alzheimer-like pathology inWistar rats.We measured total- and non-ceruloplasmin bound-Cu and Cho (free and sterified) contents in plasma and brain zones (cortex and hippocampus), markers of oxidative stress damage, inflammation, and programmed cell death (caspase-3 and calpain isoforms).The ratio beta-amyloid (1-42)/(1-40) was determined in plasma and brain as neurodegenerative biomarker. An evaluation of visuoespatial memory (Barnes maze test) was also performed. The results demonstrate the establishment of a pro-oxidative and pro-inflammatory environment after CuCho treatment, hallmarked by increased TBARS, protein carbonyls and nitrite plus nitrate levels in plasma and brain zones (cortex and hippocampus) with a consequent increase in the activity of calpains and no significant changes in caspase-3. A simultaneous increase in the plasma A𝛽1-42/A𝛽1-40 ratio was found. Furthermore, a slight but noticeable change in visuo-spatial memory was observed in rats treated with CuCho.We conclude that our model could reflect an initial stage of neurodegeneration in which Cu and Cho interact with one another to exacerbate neurological damage.