Genetically determined susceptibility to neurodegeneration is associated with expression of inflammatory genes

October 2006

Swanberg M, Duvefelt K, Diez M, Hillert J, Olsson T, Piehl F, Lidman O. Genetically determined susceptibility to neurodegeneration is associated with expression of inflammatory genes. Neurobiol Dis. 2006 Oct;24(1):67-88. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2006.05.016. Epub 2006 Aug 23. PMID: 16934480.

Axonal lesions are a common feature of neurodegenerative diseases like ALS, MS, and Alzheimer’s disease. The response to these lesions is the axon reaction and includes metabolic and structural changes in the lesioned nerve cells and an activation of surrounding glial cells. This innate immune response can have beneficial and harmful effects.

They removed the ventral root in two strains of adult rats and found that the ensuing neurodegeneration had the activation of astrocytes and microglia and upregulation of immunological compounds. The DA strain represents an injury susceptible model and the PVG represents an injury resistant one. Their DA strain had more glial activation and greater lesioned motorneuron loss compared to the PVG strain. This differences between the strains could show the importance of susceptibility to inflammatory disease in humans.

The largest group of upregulated genes were part of an immunological and inflammatory gene group and these were more expressed in the strain susceptible to neurodegeneration.