Aging and brain free cholesterol concentration on amyloid-β peptide accumulation in guinea pigs

Alzheimer’s disease is a complex multifactorial neurodegenerative disorder wherein age is a major risk factor. The appropriateness of the Hartley guinea pig (GP), which displays high sequence homologies of its amyloid-β (Aβ₄₀ and Aβ₄₂) peptides, Mdr1 and APP (amyloid precursor protein) and similarity in lipid handling to humans, was appraised among 9–40 weeks old guinea pigs. Protein expression levels of P-gp (Abcb1) and Cyp46a1 (24(S)-hydroxylase) for Aβ₄₀, and Aβ₄₂ efflux and cholesterol metabolism, respectively, were decreased with age, whereas those for Lrp1 (low-density lipoprotein receptor related protein 1), Rage (receptor for advanced glycation endproducts) for Aβ efflux and influx, respectively, and Abca1 (the ATP binding cassette subfamily A member 1) for cholesterol efflux, were unchanged among the ages examined. There was a strong, negative correlation of the brain Aβ peptide concentrations and Abca1 protein expression levels with free cholesterol. The correlation of Aβ peptide concentrations with Cyp46a1 was, however, not significant, and concentrations of the 24(S)-hydroxycholesterol metabolite revealed a decreasing trend from 20 weeks old toward 40 weeks old guinea pigs. The composite data suggest a role for free cholesterol on brain Aβ accumulation. The decreases in P-gp and Lrp1 protein levels should further exacerbate the accumulation of Aβ peptides in guinea pig brain.