Systemic TNF-α produces acute cognitive dysfunction and exaggerated sickness behavior when superimposed upon progressive neurodegeneration.

ABSTRACT: Inflammation influences chronic neurodegeneration but its precise roles are not yet clear. Systemic inflammation caused by infection, trauma or co-morbidity can alter the brain's inflammatory status, produce acute cognitive impairments, such as delirium, and drive new pathology and accelerated decline. Consistent with this, elevated systemic TNF-α is associated with more rapid cognitive decline over 6months in Alzheimer's disease patients. In the current study we challenged normal animals and those with existing progressive neurodegeneration (ME7 prion disease) with TNF-α (i.p.) to test the hypothesis that this cytokine has differential effects on cognitive function, sickness behavior and features of underlying pathology contingent on the animals' baseline condition. TNF-α (50μg/kg) had no

SUBMITTER: Hennessy E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5176008 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature