Identification of Fungal Species in Brain Tissue from Alzheimer's Disease by Next-Generation Sequencing

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Detection of Neuritic Plaques in Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model
06:02

Detection of Neuritic Plaques in Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model

Published on: July 26, 2011

Ruth Alonso, Diana Pisa, Begoña Aguado

    Journal of Alzheimer'S Disease : JAD
    |April 8, 2017
    PubMed

    Insights

    Fungal infections may be present in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients' central nervous system (CNS). Next-generation sequencing identified common fungal genera across multiple AD patients, suggesting potential therapeutic targets.

    Area of Science:

    • Mycology
    • Neurology
    • Genomics

    Background:

    • Emerging evidence suggests a link between fungal presence and Alzheimer's disease (AD).
    • Fungal proteins and DNA have been detected in the nervous tissue of AD patients.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To identify fungal species within the central nervous system (CNS) of Alzheimer's disease patients using next-generation sequencing (NGS).
    • To explore potential fungal targets for antifungal therapy in AD management.

    Main Methods:

    • DNA extraction from frozen CNS tissue samples of nine AD patients.
    • Next-generation sequencing (NGS) to identify fungal DNA in different CNS regions.
    • Comparative analysis of fungal species across multiple patients and CNS regions.

    Main Results:

    • NGS identified a variety of fungal species in the CNS of AD patients.
    • Botrytis cinerea and Cryptococcus curvatus were consistently found in all analyzed regions of one patient.
    • Five fungal genera (Alternaria, Botrytis, Candida, Cladosporium, Malassezia) were common across all nine patients.

    Conclusions:

    • The presence of specific fungal species in the CNS of AD patients is confirmed.
    • Identified fungal genera may serve as targets for developing novel antifungal therapies for AD.
    • Fungal species variations might correlate with the clinical progression and severity of Alzheimer's disease symptoms.
    Keywords:
    Disseminated mycosesfungal infectionmassive sequencingneurodegenerative diseasenext-generation sequencing

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