As the Alzheimer's disease (AD) population is growing rapidly, currently there are no blood tests for AD and no cure treatments. Using the AD mouse model, we have developed a blood test for AD that is analogous to the glucose tolerance test for diabetics. As the glucose tolerance test shows abnormalities only in diabetic patients after the challenge of glucose is given, we have developed a test that measures amyloid-? peptide (A?) in the blood after the challenge of amylin. Amylin is a peptide that freely passes through the blood brain barrier (BBB) and competes with A? to bind to the same receptor and be degraded by the insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) in the brain. Patients with AD have high levels of A? in the brain, so an amylin challenge probably results in a removal of A? from the brain to the blood stream where it can be detected. The goal of this revised R21 proposal is to conduct an exploratory study to further support the concept of the amylin challenge test in humans. Instead of amylin, we propose to conduct this challenge test in humans using pramlintide, a synthetic analog of amylin, which already has FDA approval for diabetes and a favorable safety profile. We hypothesize that an increase of A? in plasma induced by the pramlintide challenge will provoke an increase of A? in the blood among clinically diagnosed AD patients. We expect that the pramlintide challenge has potential to diagnose AD and the prodromal AD in humans through an increase of A? in plasma.
Aim 1 is to examine whether pramlintide can induce an increase of plasma A? in AD vs. those who have normal cognition.
Aim 2 is to study whether the result of the pramlintide challenge test is correlated with the AD biomarkers in cerebral spinal fluid (CSF).
Aim 3 is to examine the safety of pramlintide in the challenge test.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
1R21AG045757-01A1
Application #
8694671
Study Section
Clinical Neuroscience and Neurodegeneration Study Section (CNN)
Program Officer
Hsiao, John
Project Start
2014-05-01
Project End
2016-02-28
Budget Start
2014-05-01
Budget End
2015-02-28
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Boston University
Department
Pharmacology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02118
Tao, Qiushan; Zhu, Haihao; Chen, Xi et al. (2018) Pramlintide: The Effects of a Single Drug Injection on Blood Phosphatidylcholine Profile for Alzheimer's Disease. J Alzheimers Dis 62:597-609
Zhu, Haihao; Xue, Xiehua; Wang, Erming et al. (2017) Amylin receptor ligands reduce the pathological cascade of Alzheimer's disease. Neuropharmacology 119:170-181
Qiu, Wei Qiao (2017) Amylin and its G-protein-coupled receptor: A probable pathological process and drug target for Alzheimer's disease. Neuroscience 356:44-51
Zhu, Haihao; Stern, Robert A; Tao, Qiushan et al. (2017) An amylin analog used as a challenge test for Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimers Dement (N Y) 3:33-43
Wang, Erming; Zhu, Haihao; Wang, Xiaofan et al. (2017) Amylin Treatment Reduces Neuroinflammation and Ameliorates Abnormal Patterns of Gene Expression in the Cerebral Cortex of an Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model. J Alzheimers Dis 56:47-61
Sawaengsri, Hathairat; Bergethon, Peter R; Qiu, Wei Qiao et al. (2016) Transcobalamin 776C?G polymorphism is associated with peripheral neuropathy in elderly individuals with high folate intake. Am J Clin Nutr 104:1665-1670
Li, Huajie; Zhu, Haihao; Wallack, Max et al. (2016) Age and its association with low insulin and high amyloid-? peptides in blood. J Alzheimers Dis 49:129-37
Zhu, H; Wang, X; Wallack, M et al. (2015) Intraperitoneal injection of the pancreatic peptide amylin potently reduces behavioral impairment and brain amyloid pathology in murine models of Alzheimer's disease. Mol Psychiatry 20:252-62
Qiu, Wei Qiao; Au, Rhoda; Zhu, Haihao et al. (2014) Positive association between plasma amylin and cognition in a homebound elderly population. J Alzheimers Dis 42:555-63
Qiu, Wei Qiao; Zhu, Haihao (2014) Amylin and its analogs: a friend or foe for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease? Front Aging Neurosci 6:186

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