Page 51 - Memora anual Fundación CIEN 2015
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3. SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITY
3.2.3. Departament of Neuropathology served. This need can be met by the brain banks,
and CIEN Foundation has one of the major brain
Neuropathology is a specialty in continuous progress banks in the country, the Tissue Bank CIEN (BT-CIEN).
with capacity for contrasting clinical judgment and
performance of any diagnostic test with the final Neuropathology also provides significant support to
diagnosis ("gold standard"). However, research-wise the studies of neurological diseases based on animal
their work goes beyond that and provides essential models, both for histological evaluation of transge-
information about the molecular components of the nic animals as well as to search for natural models of
characteristic lesions, the pathogenic mechanisms disease.
of the disease, and potential biomarkers, especially
in the field of neurodegenerative diseases. Department activities
The neuropathology of dementia landscape has The core activity of the UIPA Department of Neuro-
dramatically changed in recent years. The incorpo- pathology corresponds to the BT-CIEN, both to its or-
ration to the neuropathological diagnosis of new an- ganizational and logistical components as well as
tibodies for immunostaining and new molecular the neuropathological diagnostic work and the ma-
techniques has helped establishing the boundaries nagement of biological samples.
and internal heterogeneity of entities such as de-
mentia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal de- The Department also participates in numerous co-
mentia, and has also led to the discovery of new llaborations in external research projects and carries
entities in this area (DFT-TDP. DFT-FUS, etc.). out its own internal projects, mainly based on series
of cases from post mortem donation.
Also, the definition of diagnostic criteria from large
series of brains has allowed to address the problem Among the active lines of research in the Depart-
of combined and mixed pathology, specifically re- ment are the following:
garding Alzheimer's disease. The evolution of the
diagnostic criteria (eg, new diagnostic classification • Neuropathological and molecular study of
criteria for Alzheimer patients, National Institute of tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease.
Aging, 2012) and molecular techniques are turning Pathogenic significance and spread of
the histological diagnosis in a critical element in the associated cellular lesions.
process of classifying dementia, definite or quasi-de-
finite in some cases, but partial or probabilistic in • Clinicopathological profiles in advanced
many others. dementia. Characterization of cerebral small
vessel vascular disease.
As demonstrated by the clinicopathological ses-
sions, the final classification of a case requires inte- • Distinctive features of Alzheimer-type pathology
gration of all clinical, neuroradiological, in nonagenarians and centenarians.
neuropathological and molecular, when available.
• Characterization and pathogenic study of
A need for research in dementia is the provision of dementia-associated hippocampal sclerosis.
brain tissue perfectly diagnosed, classified and pre-
• Advance age-associated brain pathology in
other animal species. Search for natural models
of Alzheimer in primates and other mammalian
groups.
CIEN Foundation Annual Report 2015 / 53
