NCT02841605

Enteric Nervous System in Alzheimer Disease

• Status: Unknown
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 55 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Nantes University Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 50 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The close homology between the central and enteric nervous systems suggests that a disease process affecting the central nervous system could also involve its enteric counterpart. The investigators have recently shown in that the enteric neurons can be readily analyzed using routine colonic biopsies. This led us to propose that the enteric nervous system could represent a unique window to assess the neuropathology in living patients with a neurodegenerative disorder. The investigators have already used this approach to show that Parkinson's disease pathology was recapitulated in a single colonic biopsy. By contrast to Parkinson's disease, the detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology in the enteric neurons has so far failed. This may be due to the low number of human tissue samples in addition to the low sensitivity of the immunohistochemical methods that were used. The aim of the current research project will be therefore to reevaluate AD pathology in a large number of human colonic samples using both a morphological and biochemical approach . The enteric nervous system could represent a unique window to assess the neuropathology in living patients with AD. This might open the way to the development of novel AD biomarkers that will directly assess the neuropathological process. Main Aim : To Analyze the presence of beta-amyloid pathology in the enteric nervous system (ENS) in AD patients Secondary Aim(s): 1. To analyze and describe the presence of tau in the enteric nervous system (ENS) in AD patients 2. To assess neuronal loss in submucosal tissue in AD patients. 3. To examine Glia cells in the enteric nervous system in AD patients..

Conditions

• Alzheimer Disease

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
PROCEDURE	Rectosigmoidoscopy with colonic biopsies	Rectosigmoidoscopy with colonic biopsies performed for Alzheimer patient and both control groups Parkinson and PSP
PROCEDURE	Colonoscopy with colonic biopsies	Colonoscopy with colonic biopsies performed only in patient at risk of colic cancer

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-10-01
• Primary completion: 2019-05-01
• Completion: 2019-05-01
• First posted: 2016-07-22
• Last updated: 2016-07-22

Locations

1 site across 1 country: France