Alzheimer's-related changes in non-demented essential tremor patients vs. controls: links between tau and tremor? 2014

Jie J Pan, and Michelle Lee, and Lawrence S Honig, and Jean-Paul G Vonsattel, and Phyllis L Faust, and Elan D Louis
Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.

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). CONCLUSIONS 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.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008297 Male Males
D011569 Psychiatric Status Rating Scales Standardized procedures utilizing rating scales or interview schedules carried out by health personnel for evaluating the degree of mental illness. Factor Construct Rating Scales (FCRS),Katz Adjustment Scales,Lorr's Inpatient Multidimensional Psychiatric Rating Scale,Wittenborn Scales,Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale,Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview
D001921 Brain The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM. Encephalon
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly
D000369 Aged, 80 and over Persons 80 years of age and older. Oldest Old
D000544 Alzheimer Disease A degenerative disease of the BRAIN characterized by the insidious onset of DEMENTIA. Impairment of MEMORY, judgment, attention span, and problem solving skills are followed by severe APRAXIAS and a global loss of cognitive abilities. The condition primarily occurs after age 60, and is marked pathologically by severe cortical atrophy and the triad of SENILE PLAQUES; NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES; and NEUROPIL THREADS. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, pp1049-57) Acute Confusional Senile Dementia,Alzheimer's Diseases,Dementia, Alzheimer Type,Dementia, Senile,Presenile Alzheimer Dementia,Senile Dementia, Alzheimer Type,Alzheimer Dementia,Alzheimer Disease, Early Onset,Alzheimer Disease, Late Onset,Alzheimer Sclerosis,Alzheimer Syndrome,Alzheimer Type Senile Dementia,Alzheimer's Disease,Alzheimer's Disease, Focal Onset,Alzheimer-Type Dementia (ATD),Dementia, Presenile,Dementia, Primary Senile Degenerative,Early Onset Alzheimer Disease,Familial Alzheimer Disease (FAD),Focal Onset Alzheimer's Disease,Late Onset Alzheimer Disease,Primary Senile Degenerative Dementia,Senile Dementia, Acute Confusional,Alzheimer Dementias,Alzheimer Disease, Familial (FAD),Alzheimer Diseases,Alzheimer Type Dementia,Alzheimer Type Dementia (ATD),Alzheimers Diseases,Dementia, Alzheimer,Dementia, Alzheimer-Type (ATD),Familial Alzheimer Diseases (FAD),Presenile Dementia,Sclerosis, Alzheimer,Senile Dementia
D016874 Neurofibrillary Tangles Abnormal structures located in various parts of the brain and composed of dense arrays of paired helical filaments (neurofilaments and microtubules). These double helical stacks of transverse subunits are twisted into left-handed ribbon-like filaments that likely incorporate the following proteins: (1) the intermediate filaments: medium- and high-molecular-weight neurofilaments; (2) the microtubule-associated proteins map-2 and tau; (3) actin; and (4) UBIQUITINS. As one of the hallmarks of ALZHEIMER DISEASE, the neurofibrillary tangles eventually occupy the whole of the cytoplasm in certain classes of cell in the neocortex, hippocampus, brain stem, and diencephalon. The number of these tangles, as seen in post mortem histology, correlates with the degree of dementia during life. Some studies suggest that tangle antigens leak into the systemic circulation both in the course of normal aging and in cases of Alzheimer disease. Neurofibrillary Tangle,Tangle, Neurofibrillary,Tangles, Neurofibrillary
D016875 tau Proteins Microtubule-associated proteins that are mainly expressed in neurons. Tau proteins constitute several isoforms and play an important role in the assembly of tubulin monomers into microtubules and in maintaining the cytoskeleton and axonal transport. Aggregation of specific sets of tau proteins in filamentous inclusions is the common feature of intraneuronal and glial fibrillar lesions (NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES; NEUROPIL THREADS) in numerous neurodegenerative disorders (ALZHEIMER DISEASE; TAUOPATHIES). tau Protein,Protein, tau,Proteins, tau

Related Publications

Jie J Pan, and Michelle Lee, and Lawrence S Honig, and Jean-Paul G Vonsattel, and Phyllis L Faust, and Elan D Louis
January 1995, Acta neuropathologica,
Jie J Pan, and Michelle Lee, and Lawrence S Honig, and Jean-Paul G Vonsattel, and Phyllis L Faust, and Elan D Louis
November 2017, Acta neurologica Scandinavica,
Jie J Pan, and Michelle Lee, and Lawrence S Honig, and Jean-Paul G Vonsattel, and Phyllis L Faust, and Elan D Louis
February 2022, The International journal of neuroscience,
Jie J Pan, and Michelle Lee, and Lawrence S Honig, and Jean-Paul G Vonsattel, and Phyllis L Faust, and Elan D Louis
January 1995, Acta neuropathologica,
Jie J Pan, and Michelle Lee, and Lawrence S Honig, and Jean-Paul G Vonsattel, and Phyllis L Faust, and Elan D Louis
December 2011, Cerebellum (London, England),
Jie J Pan, and Michelle Lee, and Lawrence S Honig, and Jean-Paul G Vonsattel, and Phyllis L Faust, and Elan D Louis
August 2022, Journal of the neurological sciences,
Jie J Pan, and Michelle Lee, and Lawrence S Honig, and Jean-Paul G Vonsattel, and Phyllis L Faust, and Elan D Louis
September 2010, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry,
Jie J Pan, and Michelle Lee, and Lawrence S Honig, and Jean-Paul G Vonsattel, and Phyllis L Faust, and Elan D Louis
December 2010, Neurotoxicology,
Jie J Pan, and Michelle Lee, and Lawrence S Honig, and Jean-Paul G Vonsattel, and Phyllis L Faust, and Elan D Louis
July 2015, Parkinsonism & related disorders,
Jie J Pan, and Michelle Lee, and Lawrence S Honig, and Jean-Paul G Vonsattel, and Phyllis L Faust, and Elan D Louis
May 2019, Annals of clinical and translational neurology,
Copied contents to your clipboard!