Sex ‐specific pleiotropic changes in emotional behavior and alcohol consumption in human α‐synuclein A53T transgenic mice during early adulthood

In this study, we investigated whether the familial PD point mutationA53T is associated with changes in alcohol consumption behavior and emotional states at ages not yet characterized by α-synuclein accumulation. TheA53T gene mutation was shown to be associated with sex-specific diverse changes in emotional states and alcohol consumption behavior long before the onset of PD. These alterations in behavior may be linked to changes in brain ceramide metabolism. AbstractPoint mutations in the α-synuclein coding gene may lead to the development of Parkinson's disease (PD). PD is often accompanied by other psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety, depression, and drug use disorders, which typically emerge in adulthood. Some of these point mutations, such asSNCA andA30T, have been linked to behavioral effects that are not commonly associated with PD, especially regarding alcohol consumption patterns. In this study, we investigated whether the familial PD point mutationA53T is associated with changes in alcohol consumption behavior and emotional states at ages not yet characterized by α-synuclein accumulation. The affective and alcohol-drinking phenotypes remained unaltered in female PDGF-hA53T-synuclein-transgenic (A53T) mice during both early and late adulthood. Brain region-specific activation of ceramide-producing enzymes, acid sphingomyelinase (ASM), and neutral sphingomyel inase (NSM), known for their neuroprotective properties, was observed during early adulthood but not in ...
Source: Journal of Neurochemistry - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research