Traumatic brain injury and amyloid-beta pathology: a link to Alzheimer's disease?

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has devastating acute effects and in many cases seems to initiate long-term neurodegeneration. Indeed, an epidemiological association between TBI and the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) later in life has been demonstrated, and it has been shown that amyloid-beta (A beta) plaques -one of the hallmarks of AD - may be found in patients within hours following TBI. Here, we explore the mechanistic underpinnings of the link between TBI and AD, focusing on the hypothesis that rapid A beta plaque formation may result from the accumulation of amyloid precursor protein in damaged axons and a disturbed balance between A beta genesis and catabolism following TBI.