Senile plaques and phosphorylated tau deposition in a super-aged rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta)

J Vet Med Sci. 2023 Dec 6;85(12):1296-1300. doi: 10.1292/jvms.23-0313. Epub 2023 Oct 12.

Abstract

The brain of a rhesus monkey that died at 43 years of age with symptoms of suspected cognitive dysfunction was analyzed. pathological analyses revealed characteristic Alzheimer's disease-related lesions: the aggregation of amyloid β (Aβ) in the form of senile plaques and phosphorylated tau proteins. We also revealed that Aβ43, which is prone to aggregation and toxicity in humans, is involved in senile plaques in the brain of the rhesus monkey, as well as several other Aβ species. Comparative studies of neuropathology using aged nonhuman primates lack behavioral descriptions compared to human medicine. This case report showed behavioral abnormalities and the detailed pathological changes that may have caused it in a super-aged rhesus monkey.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; amyloid β; neurofibrillary tangles; rhesus monkey; tau.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease* / metabolism
  • Alzheimer Disease* / pathology
  • Alzheimer Disease* / veterinary
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides* / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Brain / metabolism
  • Macaca mulatta / metabolism
  • Plaque, Amyloid / metabolism
  • Plaque, Amyloid / pathology
  • Plaque, Amyloid / veterinary
  • tau Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • tau Proteins