Peripheral modulation of the endocannabinoid system in Alzheimer's Disease

• Grant number: 18/07483-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2018
• End date: August 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Leda Leme Talib
• Grantee: Mateus Souza Abreu
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psiquiatria Doutor Antonio Carlos Pacheco e Silva (IPq). Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP (HCFMUSP). Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The prevalence and incidence of dementia, a syndrome characterized by cognitive decline that affects social or occupational functions, has been increasing in recent years. Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, has a prevalence of 10-30% in the population over 65 years. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), an intermediate state of cognitive function between normality and dementia, is an important risk factor for AD. However, patients with MCI decline at different rates and some never develop AD. In this context, biomarkers have an important prognostic value, since pathological alterations of AD can already be found in people with MCI and the clinical criteria can not distinguish the different progressions of these patients. Changes in the endocannabinoid system, a signaling system involved in several physiological and pathological processes, have already been documented in AD and appear to act as an adaptive mechanism to the disease. This study aims to find alterations of this system in patients with AD and MCI in accessible matrix (plasma and leukocytes), in order to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and prognosis of these conditions.