Figure 3From: Osteoarthritis accelerates and exacerbates Alzheimer's disease pathology in mice Arthritis exacerbates and accelerates the development of Aβ plaques in mouse brain. (A) Aβ plaques were not observed in the brain of 4 month old APP/PS1 transgenic mice. Conversely, (B) age and gender matched Col1-IL1βXAT;APP/PS1 mice with osteoarthritis presented Aβ-immunoreactive plaques scattered throughout the brain at 4 months of age. At 8 months of age, (C) APP/PS1 mice displayed Aβ plaque deposits throughout the brain parenchyma. (D) Age and gender matched Col1-IL1βXAT;APP/PS1 mice with osteoarthritis presented many more Aβ plaques. Overall, (E) APP/PS1 mice with arthritis displayed a significantly greater number of Aβ plaques at every time point examined (exacerbation effect), as well as developed Aβ plaque deposits the 4 month time point when no plaques were observed in APP/PS1 mice without arthritis (acceleration effect). (F) There was a modest increase in the number of small Aβ plaque deposits (< 100 μm) after osteoarthritis throughout the brain of Col1-IL1βXAT;APP/PS1 mice with osteoarthritis. The number of large Aβ plaques (> 100 μm), however, significantly increased in the mice with osteoarthritis, especially in the middle and posterior thirds of the brain. A total of 38 mice were included in this experiment: 20 Col1-IL1βXAT;APP/PS1 mice with osteoarthritis and 18 APP/PS1 mice without osteoarthritis. Mean ± SEM shown, ***p < 0.001; Bar = 100 μm.Back to article page