Soluble Aβ and cognitive function in aged F-344 rats and Tg2576 mice

Recent findings suggest that Alzheimer's dementia may be mediated by soluble beta amyloid (Aβ) more than the deposits of aggregated, insoluble Aβ, and vulnerability to cognitive deficits after scopolamine challenge may help identify AD even in patients that are still pre-symptomatic. The objectives of the present experiments were to determine if vulnerability to cognitive deficits after scopolamine challenge is related to levels of soluble Aβ, and if levels of soluble Aβ are more closely related to cognitive deficits than levels of insoluble Aβ, even in aged, transgenic mice, after they have developed very high levels of insoluble Aβ. Aged F-344 rats and young mice over-expressing the Swedish mutation in the human amyloid precursor protein (APPsw; Tg2576+) had elevated levels of soluble Aβ, and were more vulnerable to scopolamine challenge in the Morris water maze (MWM), relative to young rats and Tg2576− mice; but, among individual animals, higher levels of soluble Aβ were not correlated with vulnerability to scopolamine. On the other hand, in aged Tg2576+ mice, cognitive deficits were related to levels of soluble Aβ, not insoluble Aβ, despite the fact that the levels of insoluble Aβ were thousands of times higher than the levels of soluble Aβ. The results of the present experiments suggest that vulnerability to cognitive deficits after scopolamine challenge is not related to elevated levels of soluble Aβ, but that high levels of soluble Aβ are more closely correlated with cognitive deficits than the amount insoluble Aβ, even after large amounts of aggregated, insoluble Aβ have been deposited.