Alzheimer's Disease Associated Presenilin 1 and 2 Genes Dysregulation in Neonatal Lymphocytes Following Perinatal Asphyxia

Perinatal asphyxia is mainly a brain disease leading to the development of neurodegeneration, in which a number of peripheral lesions have been identified; however, little is known about the expression of key genes involved in amyloid production by peripheral cells, such as lymphocytes, during the development of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. We analyzed the gene expression of the amyloid protein precursor, beta-secretase, presenilin 1 and 2 and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha by RT-PCR in the lymphocytes of post-asphyxia and control neonates. In all examined periods after asphyxia, decreased expression of the genes of the amyloid protein precursor, beta-secretase and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha was noted in lymphocytes. Conversely, expression of presenilin 1 and 2 genes decreased on days 1-7 and 8-14 but increased after survival for more than 15 days. We believe that the expression of presenilin genes in lymphocytes could be a potential biomarker to determine the severity of the post-asphyxia neurodegeneration or to identify the underlying factors for brain neurodegeneration and get information about the time they occurred. This appears to be the first worldwide data on the role of the presenilin 1 and 2 genes associated with Alzheimer's disease in the dysregulation of neonatal lymphocytes after perinatal asphyxia.

Automated summary

Researchers found that after perinatal asphyxia, key genes related to neurodegeneration showed decreased expression in neonatal lymphocytes, while the expression of presenilin 1 and 2 genes varied at different time points. This could potentially serve as biomarkers for evaluating the severity of neurodegeneration and determining the timing of its occurrence.