Dietary exposure to an environmental toxin triggers neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid deposits in the brain

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
Paul Alan CoxSandra Anne Banack

Abstract

Neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and β-amyloid plaques are the neurological hallmarks of both Alzheimer's disease and an unusual paralytic illness suffered by Chamorro villagers on the Pacific island of Guam. Many Chamorros with the disease suffer dementia, and in some villages one-quarter of the adults perished from the disease. Like Alzheimer's, the causal factors of Guamanian amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism dementia complex (ALS/PDC) are poorly understood. In replicated experiments, we found that chronic dietary exposure to a cyanobacterial toxin present in the traditional Chamorro diet, β-N-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA), triggers the formation of both NFT and β-amyloid deposits similar in structure and density to those found in brain tissues of Chamorros who died with ALS/PDC. Vervets (Chlorocebus sabaeus) fed for 140 days with BMAA-dosed fruit developed NFT and sparse β-amyloid deposits in the brain. Co-administration of the dietary amino acid l-serine with l-BMAA significantly reduced the density of NFT. These findings indicate that while chronic exposure to the environmental toxin BMAA can trigger neurodegeneration in vulnerable individuals, increasing the amount of l-serine in the diet can reduce the risk.

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Citations

Feb 28, 2016·Toxicon : Official Journal of the International Society on Toxinology·Aspassia D ChatziefthimiouRenee A Richer
Apr 17, 2016·Progress in Neurobiology·Goran ŠimićPatrick R Hof
May 3, 2016·Neurotoxicology·Paul Alan CoxSandra Anne Banack
Jun 18, 2016·Archives of Toxicology·Oskar Karlsson, Nils Gunnar Lindquist
Aug 19, 2016·Toxins·Neil HammerschlagDeborah C Mash
Sep 4, 2016·Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis & Frontotemporal Degeneration·Todd D LevinePaul A Cox
Sep 21, 2017·Neurotoxicity Research·J S MetcalfP A Cox
Aug 27, 2017·Neurotoxicity Research·Vanessa X TanJean-Michel Peyrin
Aug 31, 2017·Neurotoxicity Research·Vanessa X TanGilles J Guillemin
Nov 21, 2018·Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis & Frontotemporal Degeneration
Nov 21, 2018·Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis & Frontotemporal Degeneration
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May 10, 2017·Neurotoxicity Research·Sandra Anne Banack, Paul Alan Cox
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May 15, 2020·The Journal of Toxicological Sciences·Xiaoni ZhanHao Pang
Jun 20, 2020·Neurotoxicity Research·Aspassia D ChatziefthimiouPaul Alan Cox

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
transgenic

Clinical Trials Mentioned

NCT01835782

Software Mentioned

NIH I mage J64

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