Potential Alzheimer’s early biomarkers in a transgenic rat model and benefits of diazoxide/dibenzoylmethane co-treatment on spatial memory and AD-pathology

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the major form of dementia prevalent in older adults and with a high incidence in females. Identification of early biomarkers is essential for preventive intervention to delay its progression. Furthermore, due to its multifactorial nature, a multi-target approach could be therapeutically beneficial. Our studies included 4- (pre-pathology) and 11-month (mild-pathology) TgF344-AD rats, a transgenic Alzheimer’s model that exhibits age-dependent AD progression. We identified two potential early biomarker genes for AD, early growth response 2 (EGR2) and histone 1H2AA (HIST1H2AA), in the hippocampus of 4-month females. Out of 17,168 genes analyzed by RNA sequencing, expression of these two genes was significantly altered in 4-month TgF344-AD rats compared to wild-type littermates. We also evaluated co-treatment with diazoxide (DZ), a potassium channel activator, and dibenzoylmethane (DIB), which inhibits eIF2α-P activity, on TgF344-AD and wild-type rats. DZ/DIB-treatment mitigated spatial memory deficits and buildup of hippocampal Aβ plaques and tau PHF in 11-month TgF344-AD rats but had no effect on wild-type littermates. To our knowledge, this preclinical study is the first to report EGR2 and HIST1H2AA as potential AD biomarkers in females, and the benefits of DZ/DIB-treatment in AD. Evaluations across multiple AD-related models is warranted to corroborate our findings.