A brain-cell study found resistance to TDP-43 pathology in primary progressive aphasia
Original source
Resistance of Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Neurons to TDP-43 Proteinopathy in Primary Progressive Aphasia. (opens in a new tab)Compass summarised this from the study's abstract.
Study details
- Studied in
- Human
Related topics
Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons showed very few TDP-43 inclusions in postmortem brain samples from 16 people with primary progressive aphasia and TDP-43 proteinopathy. The findings suggest these neurons are relatively resistant to this pathology in that disorder.
Why this matters
This study does not establish a treatment effect in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or motor neuron disease (MND). Its relevance to ALS/MND is therefore limited, because the participants had primary progressive aphasia rather than ALS/MND and the work examined brain tissue after death.
Limitations and context
This was a postmortem study of 16 participants, using immunohistochemical analysis of preserved brain sections. It studied primary progressive aphasia with TDP-43 proteinopathy, not ALS/MND, so the findings cannot be directly applied to people with ALS/MND. The authors’ suggestion that cholinergic therapy is unlikely to be effective applies to that disorder and was not tested as a treatment trial.