Objetivos: La enfermedad de Alzheimer (EA) es una enfermedad neurodegenerativa. La EA es la principal causa de demencia en el mundo, siendo el envejecimiento el principal factor de riesgo. Los criterios diagnósticos para la enfermedad de Alzheimer suelen basarse en datos clínicos. No obstante, es necesario establecer una definición biológica de la enfermedad de Alzheimer basada en biomarcadores que reflejen la neuropatología subyacente. Contenido: El objetivo de esta revisión es presentar los resultados obtenidos en la medición de biomarcadores nuevos y ya conocidos en los fluidos biológicos o en neuroimágenes. Resumen: Actualmente se emplean tres biomarcadores para el diagnóstico de la enfermedad de Alzheimer_Aß42, t-Tau y p-Tau. El uso diagnóstico de biomarcadores en el líquido cefalorraquídeo (LCR) presenta algunas limitaciones debido a que la obtención invasiva mediante punción lumbar puede provocar efectos secundarios. La práctica más común en los centros clínicos es la medición en plasma o suero, ya que es mínimamenteinvasiva y, en consecuencia, se puede obtener y procesar con mayor facilidad. Las dos principales proteínas implicadas en el proceso patológico, Aß y Tau, se pueden visualizar empleando técnicas de neuroimagen como la PET. ¿ Perspectivas: Dado que está ampliamente aceptado que la enfermedad de Alzheimer comienza décadas antes de que se ¿ diagnostiquen los primeros síntomas clínicos, la detección de alteraciones biológicas previa a la aparición de la sintomatología clínica permitiría su diagnóstico precoz o incluso abriría la puerta a nuevas opciones terapéuticas.

Sirtuin 2 (SIRT2) has been associated to aging and age-related pathologies. Specifically, an age-dependent accumulation of isoform 3 of SIRT2 in the CNS has been demonstrated; however, no study has addressed the behavioral or molecular consequences that this could have on aging. In the present study, we have designed an adeno-associated virus vector (AAV-CAG-Sirt2.3-eGFP) for the overexpression of SIRT2.3 in the hippocampus of 2 month-old SAMR1 and SAMP8 mice. Our results show that the specific overexpression of this isoform does not induce significant behavioral or molecular effects at short or long term in the control strain. Only a tendency towards a worsening in the performance in acquisition phase of the Morris Water Maze was found in SAMP8 mice, together with a significant increase in the pro-inflammatory cytokine Il-1 beta. These results suggest that the age-related increase of SIRT2.3 found in the brain is not responsible for induction or prevention of senescence. Nevertheless, in combination with other risk factors, it could contribute to the progression of age-related processes. Understanding the specific role of SIRT2 on aging and the underlying molecular mechanisms is essential to design new and more successful therapies for the treatment of age-related diseases.

Dravet Syndrome (DS) is an encephalopathy with epilepsy associated with multiple neuropsychiatric comorbidities. In up to 90% of cases, it is caused by functional happloinsufficiency of the SCN1A gene, which encodes the alpha subunit of a voltage-dependent sodium channel (Nav1.1). Preclinical development of new targeted therapies requires accessible animal models which recapitulate the disease at the genetic and clinical levels. Here we describe that a C57BL/6 J knock-in mouse strain carrying a heterozygous, clinically relevant SCN1A mutation (A1783V) presents a full spectrum of DS manifestations. This includes 70% mortality rate during the first 8 weeks of age, reduced threshold for heat-induced seizures (4.7 degrees C lower compared with control littermates), cognitive impairment, motor disturbances, anxiety, hyperactive behavior and defects in the interaction with the environment. In contrast, sociability was relatively preserved. Electrophysiological studies showed spontaneous interictal epileptiform discharges, which increased in a temperature-dependent manner. Seizures were multifocal, with different origins within and across individuals. They showed intra/inter-hemispheric propagation and often resulted in generalized tonic-clonic seizures. F-18-labelled flourodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) revealed a global increase in glucose uptake in the brain of Scn1a(WT/A1783V) mice. We conclude that the Scn1a(WT/A1783V) model is a robust research platform for the evaluation of new therapies against DS.