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    Analyzing Olfactory Neuron Precursors Non-Invasively Isolated through NADH FLIM as a Potential Tool to Study Oxidative Stress in Alzheimer’s Disease
    (2021)
    Laura Gómez-Virgilio
    ;
    Alejandro Luarte
    ;
    Daniela P. Ponce
    ;
    Bárbara A. Bruna
    ;
    <jats:p>Among all the proposed pathogenic mechanisms to understand the etiology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), increased oxidative stress seems to be a robust and early disease feature where many of those hypotheses converge. However, despite the significant lines of evidence accumulated, an effective diagnosis and treatment of AD are not yet available. This limitation might be partially explained by the use of cellular and animal models that recapitulate partial aspects of the disease and do not account for the particular biology of patients. As such, cultures of patient-derived cells of peripheral origin may provide a convenient solution for this problem. Peripheral cells of neuronal lineage such as olfactory neuronal precursors (ONPs) can be easily cultured through non-invasive isolation, reproducing AD-related oxidative stress. Interestingly, the autofluorescence of key metabolic cofactors such as reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) can be highly correlated with the oxidative state and antioxidant capacity of cells in a non-destructive and label-free manner. In particular, imaging NADH through fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) has greatly improved the sensitivity in detecting oxidative shifts with minimal intervention to cell physiology. Here, we discuss the translational potential of analyzing patient-derived ONPs non-invasively isolated through NADH FLIM to reveal AD-related oxidative stress. We believe this approach may potentially accelerate the discovery of effective antioxidant therapies and contribute to early diagnosis and personalized monitoring of this devastating disease.</jats:p>
      7Scopus© Citations 9
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    Moral Emotions and Their Brain Structural Correlates Across Neurodegenerative Disorders
    (2023)
    Sandra Baez
    ;
    Catalina Trujillo-Llano
    ;
    Leonardo Cruz de Souza
    ;
    Patricia Lillo
    ;
    Gonzalo Forno
    <jats:p>Background: Although social cognition is compromised in patients with neurodegenerative disorders such as behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), research on moral emotions and their neural correlates in these populations is scarce. No previous study has explored the utility of moral emotions, compared to and in combination with classical general cognitive state tools, to discriminate bvFTD from AD patients. Objective: To examine self-conscious (guilt and embarrassment) and other-oriented (pity and indignation) moral emotions, their subjective experience, and their structural brain underpinnings in bvFTD (n = 31) and AD (n = 30) patients, compared to healthy controls (n = 37). We also explored the potential utility of moral emotions measures to discriminate bvFTD from AD. Methods: We used a modified version of the Moral Sentiment Task measuring the participants’ accuracy scores and their emotional subjective experiences. Results: bvFTD patients exhibited greater impairments in self-conscious and other-oriented moral emotions as compared with AD patients and healthy controls. Moral emotions combined with general cognitive state tools emerged as useful measures to discriminate bvFTD from AD patients. In bvFTD patients, lower moral emotions scores were associated with lower gray matter volumes in caudate nucleus and inferior and middle temporal gyri. In AD, these scores were associated with lower gray matter volumes in superior and middle frontal gyri, middle temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule and supramarginal gyrus. Conclusion: These findings contribute to a better understanding of moral emotion deficits across neurodegenerative disorders, highlighting the potential benefits of integrating this domain into the clinical assessment.</jats:p>
      24Scopus© Citations 3
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    Multidimensional inhibitory signatures of sentential negation in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia
    (2022)
    Mariano N Díaz-Rivera
    ;
    Agustina Birba
    ;
    Sol Fittipaldi
    ;
    Débora Mola
    ;
    Yurena Morera
    <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p>Processing of linguistic negation has been associated to inhibitory brain mechanisms. However, no study has tapped this link via multimodal measures in patients with core inhibitory alterations, a critical approach to reveal direct neural correlates and potential disease markers.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>Here we examined oscillatory, neuroanatomical, and functional connectivity signatures of a recently reported Go/No-go negation task in healthy controls and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) patients, typified by primary and generalized inhibitory disruptions. To test for specificity, we also recruited persons with Alzheimer's disease (AD), a disease involving frequent but nonprimary inhibitory deficits.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>In controls, negative sentences in the No-go condition distinctly involved frontocentral delta (2–3 Hz) suppression, a canonical inhibitory marker. In bvFTD patients, this modulation was selectively abolished and significantly correlated with the volume and functional connectivity of regions supporting inhibition (e.g. precentral gyrus, caudate nucleus, and cerebellum). Such canonical delta suppression was preserved in the AD group and associated with widespread anatomo-functional patterns across non-inhibitory regions.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Discussion</jats:title> <jats:p>These findings suggest that negation hinges on the integrity and interaction of spatiotemporal inhibitory mechanisms. Moreover, our results reveal potential neurocognitive markers of bvFTD, opening a new agenda at the crossing of cognitive neuroscience and behavioral neurology.</jats:p> </jats:sec>
    Scopus© Citations 18  4
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    Visual-spatial processing impairment in the occipital-frontal connectivity network at early stages of Alzheimer’s disease
    (2023)
    Iván Plaza-Rosales
    ;
    Enzo Brunetti
    ;
    Rodrigo Montefusco-Siegmund
    ;
    Samuel Madariaga
    ;
    Rodrigo Hafelin
    <jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction</jats:title><jats:p>Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia worldwide, but its pathophysiological phenomena are not fully elucidated. Many neurophysiological markers have been suggested to identify early cognitive impairments of AD. However, the diagnosis of this disease remains a challenge for specialists. In the present cross-sectional study, our objective was to evaluate the manifestations and mechanisms underlying visual-spatial deficits at the early stages of AD.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>We combined behavioral, electroencephalography (EEG), and eye movement recordings during the performance of a spatial navigation task (a virtual version of the Morris Water Maze adapted to humans). Participants (69–88 years old) with amnesic mild cognitive impairment–Clinical Dementia Rating scale (aMCI–CDR 0.5) were selected as probable early AD (eAD) by a neurologist specialized in dementia. All patients included in this study were evaluated at the CDR 0.5 stage but progressed to probable AD during clinical follow-up. An equal number of matching healthy controls (HCs) were evaluated while performing the navigation task. Data were collected at the Department of Neurology of the Clinical Hospital of the Universidad de Chile and the Department of Neuroscience of the Faculty of Universidad de Chile.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Participants with aMCI preceding AD (eAD) showed impaired spatial learning and their visual exploration differed from the control group. eAD group did not clearly prefer regions of interest that could guide solving the task, while controls did. The eAD group showed decreased visual occipital evoked potentials associated with eye fixations, recorded at occipital electrodes. They also showed an alteration of the spatial spread of activity to parietal and frontal regions at the end of the task. The control group presented marked occipital activity in the beta band (15–20 Hz) at early visual processing time. The eAD group showed a reduction in beta band functional connectivity in the prefrontal cortices reflecting poor planning of navigation strategies.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Discussion</jats:title><jats:p>We found that EEG signals combined with visual-spatial navigation analysis, yielded early and specific features that may underlie the basis for understanding the loss of functional connectivity in AD. Still, our results are clinically promising for early diagnosis required to improve quality of life and decrease healthcare costs.</jats:p></jats:sec>
    Scopus© Citations 16  1
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    Cancer History Avoids the Increase of Senescence Markers in Peripheral Cells of Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impaired Patients
    (2023)
    Carol D. SanMartín
    ;
    Felipe Salech
    ;
    Daniela Paz Ponce
    ;
    Jorge Concha-Cerda
    ;
    Esteban Romero-Hernández
    <jats:p>Epidemiological studies show that having a history of cancer protects from the development of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), and vice versa, AD protects from cancer. The mechanism of this mutual protection is unknown. We have reported that the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of amnestic cognitive impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients have increased susceptibility to oxidative cell death compared to control subjects, and from the opposite standpoint a cancer history is associated with increased resistance to oxidative stress cell death in PBMCs, even in those subjects who have cancer history and aMCI (Ca + aMCI). Cellular senescence is a regulator of susceptibility to cell death and has been related to the pathophysiology of AD and cancer. Recently, we showed that cellular senescence markers can be tracked in PBMCs of aMCI patients, so we here investigated whether these senescence markers are dependent on having a history of cancer. Senescence-associated βeta-galactosidase (SA-β-Gal) activity, G0-G1 phase cell-cycle arrest, p16 and p53 were analyzed by flow cytometry; phosphorylated H2A histone family member X (γH2AX) by immunofluorescence; IL-6 and IL-8 mRNA by qPCR; and plasmatic levels by ELISA. Senescence markers that were elevated in PBMCs of aMCI patients, such as SA-β-Gal, Go-G1 arrested cells, IL-6 and IL-8 mRNA expression, and IL-8 plasmatic levels, were decreased in PBMCs of Ca + aMCI patients to levels similar to those of controls or of cancer survivors without cognitive impairment, suggesting that cancer in the past leaves a fingerprint that can be peripherally traceable in PBMC samples. These results support the hypothesis that the senescence process might be involved in the inverse association between cancer and AD.</jats:p>
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