TY - JOUR
T1 - Molecular pathways bridging frontotemporal lobar degeneration and psychiatric disorders
AU - Zanardini, Roberta
AU - Ciani, Miriam
AU - Benussi, Luisa
AU - Ghidoni, Roberta
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - The overlap of symptoms between neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases has been reported. Neuropsychiatric alterations are commonly observed in dementia, especially in the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), which is the most common clinical FTD subtype. At the same time, psychiatric disorders, like schizophrenia (SCZ), can display symptoms of dementia, including features of frontal dysfunction with relative sparing of memory. In the present review, we discuss common molecular features in these pathologies with a special focus on FTD. Molecules like Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and progranulin are linked to the pathophysiology of both neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. In these brain-associated illnesses, the presence of disease-associated variants in BDNF and progranulin (GRN) genes cause a reduction of circulating proteins levels, through alterations in proteins expression or secretion. For these reasons, we believe that prevention and therapy of psychiatric and neurological disorders could be achieved enhancing both BDNF and progranulin levels thanks to drug discovery efforts.
AB - The overlap of symptoms between neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases has been reported. Neuropsychiatric alterations are commonly observed in dementia, especially in the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), which is the most common clinical FTD subtype. At the same time, psychiatric disorders, like schizophrenia (SCZ), can display symptoms of dementia, including features of frontal dysfunction with relative sparing of memory. In the present review, we discuss common molecular features in these pathologies with a special focus on FTD. Molecules like Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and progranulin are linked to the pathophysiology of both neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases. In these brain-associated illnesses, the presence of disease-associated variants in BDNF and progranulin (GRN) genes cause a reduction of circulating proteins levels, through alterations in proteins expression or secretion. For these reasons, we believe that prevention and therapy of psychiatric and neurological disorders could be achieved enhancing both BDNF and progranulin levels thanks to drug discovery efforts.
KW - BDNF
KW - Biomarkers
KW - Frontotemporal dementia
KW - Neurodegenerative diseases
KW - Progranulin
KW - Psychiatric disorders
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U2 - 10.3389/fnagi.2016.00010
DO - 10.3389/fnagi.2016.00010
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84960092070
VL - 8
JO - Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
SN - 1663-4365
IS - FEB
M1 - 10
ER -