Objective: This study presents a novel method of predicting the behavioral pattern in male Sprague-Dawley rats with impaired learning and memory, based on the measurement of the dielectric properties (dielectric constant and conductivity) of blood plasma at microwave frequencies at different time points.

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic debilitating neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure and no single diagnostic test. Now referred to “Alzheimer’s dementia” or “dementia due to Alzheimer’s”, AD describes those in the dementia stage of the continuum.

Methods: Thirty (30) rats received 10µl of amyloid-beta bilaterally injected directly into their dorsal hippocampus to mimic lesions similar to those observed in patients with AD. Ten (10) control rats received 10µl of saline. Spatial learning and memory tests were conducted using the Morris Water Maze (MWM) prior to and following the bilateral intra-hippocampal injections. Animals were sacrificed on day 3, 7, 10 and 14 following the intra-hippocampal injection. Blood plasma was collected for determination of protein activity using a microwave technique. The microwave measurements were performed by the rectangular cavity perturbation method in the S-band of microwave frequency with the blood plasma collected from all rats.

Results: The amyloid-beta lesioned rats showed greater memory deficits when compared to saline injected rats. We found a change in the dielectric properties of the amyloid-beta samples but not the controls at the extended time point.

Conclusions: This study provides a new method of predicting cognitive impairment associated with AD.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/dielectric-properties-of-blood-plasma-predict-cognitive-impairment-in-an-amyloid-beta-induced-rat-model-of-alzheimers-dementia/