NEURODEGENERATIVE CHANGES INDUCED BY INJECTION OF beta-AMYLOID PEPTIDE FRAGMENT (25-35) IN HIPPOCAMPUS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH NGF-SIGNALLING ACTIVATION

beta-amyloid peptide (Alpha beta) is an important component of the neurodegeneration mechanism in Alzheimer's disease. This work investigates the effect of intrahippocampal injection of Alpha beta(25-35) fragment on nerve growth factor (NGF) signalling. Aggregated Alpha beta(25-35) was injected into rat dorsal hippocampus. Rats in the control group received injections of the peptide with an inverted amino acid sequence and a solvent. It was shown that Alpha beta(25-35) induces neuron death in rat hippocampus. Neurodegeneration was accompanied by a statistically significant increase (p < 0.05) in p75NTR neurotrophin receptor expression in all animals who had received exogenous peptides, and by an increased level of NGF in the hippocampus of those rats who had been injected with Alpha beta(25-35). The study results demonstrate that changes in the hippocampus induced by Alpha beta(25-35) are accompanied by increased NGF signalling, which, to some extent, supports the current clinical data obtained from patients with Alzheimer's. The changes mentioned above are compensatory. However, both damage reparation and further degenerative processes can be the ultimate outcome.