Abstract

The development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is generally thought to correlate with cerebral accumulation of Abeta. It has previously been shown that Abeta peptides enhance vasoconstriction in isolated arteries and oppose certain vasorelaxants. Moreover, exogenous application of Abeta peptides causes cerebral vasoconstriction in rodents and in transgenic mouse models of AD that overexpress Abeta there is reduced cerebral blood flow. In the present study, we investigated the effect of nilvadipine, a dihydropyridine-type calcium channel blocker, on Abeta induced vasoconstriction in isolated arteries and in vivo on cerebral blood flow (CBF) of an AD transgenic mouse model overexpressing Abeta (Tg APPsw line 2576). Nilvadipine completely inhibited the vasoactivity elicited by Abeta in rat aortae and in human middle cerebral arteries. The effect of a short treatment duration (2 weeks) with nilvadipine on regional CBF was investigated in 13-month-old Tg APPsw mice and control littermates using a laser Doppler imager. Additionally, CBF was also measured in 20-month-old Tg APPsw mice and control littermates that were chronically treated with nilvadipine for 7 months. Untreated Tg APPsw mice showed a reduction of regional CBF compared to their untreated control littermates. Nilvadipine restored cortical perfusion levels in Tg APPsw to values similar to those observed in control littermates without notably affecting the CBF of control mice. All together, these data suggest that nilvadipine might be useful for the treatment of oligemia associated with AD.