CHANGES IN CILIARY NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR CONTENT IN THE RAT-BRAIN AFTERCONTINUOUS INTRACEREBROVENTRICULAR INFUSION OF BETA-AMYLOID(1-40) PROTEIN

We have previously shown that the continuous intracerebroventricular i nfusion of beta-amyloid(1-40) protein results in memory impairments in rats, associated with a reduction of choline acetyltransferase activi ty in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. In the present study, we exa mined whether the infusion of beta-amyloid(1-40) protein affected the content of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in the rat brain. The be ta-amyloid(1-40) infusion increased CNTF content in the frontal cortex , hippocampus, and the cerebellum, but decreased its content in the br ain stem. These results suggest that accumulation of beta-amyloid(1-40 ) in the brain may affect CNTF production in vivo.