The effects of cerebral amyloid angiopathy on integrity of the blood-brain barrier

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), in which amyloid accumulates predominantly in the walls of arterioles and capillaries, is seen in most patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) and may contribute to compromise of blood-brain barrier (BBB) function seen in AD. We investigated the effects of CAA on BBB integrity by examining the expression of the endothelial marker CD31, basement membrane protein collagen IV (COL4), tight junction protein claudin-5, and fibrinogen, a marker of BBB leakage, by immunohistochemistry in the occipital cortex of autopsy brains with AD and capillary CAA (CAA type 1; n = 8), AD with noncapillary CAA (CAA type 2; n = 10), and AD without CAA (n = 7) compared with elderly controls (n = 10). Given the difference in pathogenesis of capillary and noncapillary CAA, we hypothesize that features of BBB breakdown are observed only in capillary CAA. We found decreased expression of CD31 in AD subjects with CAA types 1 and 2 compared with AD without CAA and an increase in COL4 in AD without CAA compared with controls. Furthermore, there was increased immunoreactivity for fibrinogen in AD with CAA type 1 compared with controls. These findings suggest that capillary CAA is associated with morphologic and possibly physiologic alterations of the neurovascular unit and increased BBB permeability in AD.