IL-17A drives cognitive aging probably via inducing neuroinflammation and theta oscillation disruption in the
Yachun Li1, Meng Mao2, Lanyue Zhu3
1Department of Anesthesiology, Jinling Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China; Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Shanghai Songjiang Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Songjiang, Shanghai, China.
Abstract:
Cognitive aging is a major risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases and has a great impact on the living quality of older individuals. However, the precise mechanisms underlying cognitive aging remain elusive. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that interleukin 17A (IL-17A) is responsible for cognitive decline in the process of various neurological diseases. Thus, we conducted this study aiming to investigate the role of IL-17A in cognitive aging. In the present study, 31 aging (65-85 years) and 25 young (18-35 years) patients scheduled for elective removal of internal fixation surgery with spinal anesthesia were included for measurements of preoperative cognitive function, serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of IL-17A. For animal study, RNAseq and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways were used to identify differentially expressed genes between young and aging mice. For the treatment groups, young (2-3 months) and aging (16-18 months) mice received intraperitoneally with IL-17A and anti-IL-17A antibody, respectively. Twenty-four hours later, neurocognitive behavioral tests were conducted. Our results suggested that differentially expressed genes between young and aging mice were mainly enriched in IL-17 pathways. Serum and CSF levels of IL-17A increased significantly in aging patients and were negatively correlated with mini-mental state examination scores. Both young mice receiving IL-17A and aging mice showed impaired memory, increased blood-brain barrier permeability, overactivated microglia and increased inflammatory mediators in the hippocampus. Additionally, aging mice showed a significantly decreased θ power in the task-related neural oscillations. Notably, intraperitoneal injection of anti-IL-17A antibody alleviated increased blood-brain barrier permeability, microglial activation, neuroinflammation, θ oscillation disruption and cognitive decline of aging mice. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that IL-17A may be an initiating factor of cognitive aging.
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