ArticlePloS one2023
Early chronic suppression of microglial p38α in a model of Alzheimer's disease does not significantly alter amyloid-associated neuropathology.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Reversal of early-life high fat diet prevents spatial discrimination deficits corresponding with altered brain inflammatory and metabolic profiles in male C57BL/6J mice.Nutritional neuroscience · 2026Article
- Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease: glial crosstalk, pathological modulation, and therapeutic implications.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- A small molecule p38α MAPK inhibitor, MW150, attenuates behavioral deficits and neuronal dysfunction in a mouse model of mixed amyloid and vascular pathologies.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Article
- The clinical importance of suspected non-Alzheimer disease pathophysiology.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2024Review
- Natural Compounds Oridonin and Shikonin Exhibit Potentially Beneficial Regulatory Effects on Select Functions of Microglia.Brain sciences · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The p38 alpha mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38α) is linked to both innate and adaptive immune responses and is under investigation as a target for drug development in the context of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other conditions with neuroinflammatory dysfunction. While preclinical data has shown that p38α inhibition can protect against AD-associated neuropathology, the underlying mechanisms are not fully elucidated. Inhibitors of p38α may provide benefit via modulation of microglial-associated neuroinflammatory responses that contribute to AD pathology. The present study tests this hypothesis by knocking out microglial p38α and assessing early-stage pathological changes. Conditional knockout of microglial p38α was accomplished in 5-month-old C57BL/6J wild-type and amyloidogenic AD model (APPswe/PS1dE9) mice using a tamoxifen-inducible Cre/loxP system under control of the Cx3cr1 promoter. Beginning at 7.5 months of age, animals underwent behavioral assessment on the open field, followed by a later radial arm water maze test and collection of cortical and hippocampal tissues at 11 months. Additional endpoint measures included quantification of proinflammatory cytokines, assessment of amyloid burden and plaque deposition, and characterization of microglia-plaque dynamics. Loss of microglial p38α did not alter behavioral outcomes, proinflammatory cytokine levels, or overall amyloid plaque burden. However, this manipulation did significantly increase hippocampal levels of soluble Aβ42 and reduce colocalization of Iba1 and 6E10 in a subset of microglia in close proximity to plaques. The data presented here suggest that rather than reducing inflammation per se, the net effect of microglial p38α inhibition in the context of early AD-type amyloid pathology is a subtle alteration of microglia-plaque interactions. Encouragingly from a therapeutic standpoint, these data suggest no detrimental effect of even substantial decreases in microglial p38α in this context. Additionally, these results support future investigations of microglial p38α signaling at different stages of disease, as well as its relationship to phagocytic processes in this particular cell-type.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.