Traumatic Brain Injury Increases the Expression of Nos1, Aβ Clearance, and Epileptogenesis in APP/PS1 Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease

To test the hypothesis that an amyloidogenic genetic background predisposes to worsening of post-TBI outcome, we investigated whether traumatic brain injury (TBI) in amyloid precursor protein (APP)/PS1 mice aggravates epileptogenesis and/or enhances somatomotor and cognitive impairment. To elaborate the mechanisms of worsening outcomes, we studied changes in the expression of genes involved in APP processing and Tau pathways in the perilesional cortex, ipsilateral thalamus, and ipsilateral hippocampus 16 weeks post-TBI. Mild (mTBI) or severe TBI (sTBI) was triggered using controlled cortical impact in 3-month-old APP/PS1 mice and wild-type (Wt) littermates. Morris water-maze revealed a genotype effect on spatial learning and memory as APP/PS1-sTBI mice performed more poorly than Wt-sTBI mice (p