Tau pathology-dependent remodelling of cerebral arteries precedes Alzheimer’s disease-related microvascular cerebral amyloid angiopathy

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterised by pathologic cerebrovascular remodelling. Whether this occurs already before disease onset, as may be indicated by early Braak tau-related cerebral hypoperfusion and blood–brain barrier (BBB) impairment found in previous studies, remains unknown. Therefore, we systematically quantified Braak tau stage- and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)-dependent alterations in the alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen, and elastin content of leptomeningeal arterioles, small arteries, and medium-size Show more