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Review
. 2022 Oct;24(10):465-475.
doi: 10.1007/s11906-022-01209-1. Epub 2022 Jul 5.

WNT/β-catenin Pathway: a Possible Link Between Hypertension and Alzheimer's Disease

Alexandre Vallée  1 , Jean-Noël Vallée  2   3 , Yves Lecarpentier  4
Affiliations
Review

WNT/β-catenin Pathway: a Possible Link Between Hypertension and Alzheimer's Disease

Alexandre Vallée et al. Curr Hypertens Rep. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose of review: Recent research has shown that older people with high blood pressure (BP), or hypertension, are more likely to have biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Essential hypertension represents the most common cardiovascular disease worldwide and is thought to be responsible for about 13% of all deaths. People with essential hypertension who regularly take prescribed BP medications are half as likely to develop AD as those who do not take them. What then is the connection?

Recent findings: We know that high BP can damage small blood vessels in the brain, affecting those parts that are responsible for memory and thinking. However, the link between AD and hypertension remains unclear. Recent advances in the field of molecular and cellular biology have revealed a downregulation of the canonical WNT/β-catenin pathway in both hypertension and AD. In AD, the glutamate transport function is decreased, a decrease that is associated with a loss of synapse and neuronal death. β-catenin signaling appears to act as a major regulator of glutamate transporters (EAAT and GS) expression and can be harnessed to remove excess glutamate in AD. This review focuses on the possible link between hypertension and AD through the decreased WNT/β-catenin which interacts with the glutamatergic pathway.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Glutamate; Glutamate transporter; Hypertension; WNT/β-catenin pathway; β-catenin.

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References

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