Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

eLife Sciences Publications, eLife, (12), 2024

DOI: 10.7554/elife.89376.3

eLife Sciences Publications, eLife, (12), 2024

DOI: 10.7554/elife.89376

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Large-scale animal model study uncovers altered brain pH and lactate levels as a transdiagnostic endophenotype of neuropsychiatric disorders involving cognitive impairment

Journal article published in 2024 by Hideo Hagihara ORCID, Hirotaka Shoji, Yoshihiro Takamiya, Mika Tanaka, Mihiro Shibutani, Anja Urbach, Takuya Sato, Tetsuya Tatsukawa, Kazuhiro Yamakawa ORCID, Noriko Takahashi, Tetsuya Taga, Keizo Takao ORCID, Tsuyoshi Takagi, Yoshihisa Sugimura, Kyosuke Yamanishi ORCID and other authors.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Red circle
Preprint: archiving forbidden
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Increased levels of lactate, an end-product of glycolysis, have been proposed as a potential surrogate marker for metabolic changes during neuronal excitation. These changes in lactate levels can result in decreased brain pH, which has been implicated in patients with various neuropsychiatric disorders. We previously demonstrated that such alterations are commonly observed in five mouse models of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism, suggesting a shared endophenotype among these disorders rather than mere artifacts due to medications or agonal state. However, there is still limited research on this phenomenon in animal models, leaving its generality across other disease animal models uncertain. Moreover, the association between changes in brain lactate levels and specific behavioral abnormalities remains unclear. To address these gaps, the International Brain pH Project Consortium investigated brain pH and lactate levels in 109 strains/conditions of 2294 animals with genetic and other experimental manipulations relevant to neuropsychiatric disorders. Systematic analysis revealed that decreased brain pH and increased lactate levels were common features observed in multiple models of depression, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and some additional schizophrenia models. While certain autism models also exhibited decreased pH and increased lactate levels, others showed the opposite pattern, potentially reflecting subpopulations within the autism spectrum. Furthermore, utilizing large-scale behavioral test battery, a multivariate cross-validated prediction analysis demonstrated that poor working memory performance was predominantly associated with increased brain lactate levels. Importantly, this association was confirmed in an independent cohort of animal models. Collectively, these findings suggest that altered brain pH and lactate levels, which could be attributed to dysregulated excitation/inhibition balance, may serve as transdiagnostic endophenotypes of debilitating neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by cognitive impairment, irrespective of their beneficial or detrimental nature.