Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by extensive neuron loss that accompanies profound impairments in memory and cognition. We examined the neuronally directed effects of the retinoid X receptor agonist bexarotene in an aggressive model of AD. We report that a two week treatment of 3.5 month old 5XFAD mice with bexarotene resulted in the clearance of intraneuronal amyloid deposits. Importantly, neuronal loss was attenuated by 44% in the subiculum in mice 4 months of age and 18% in layer V of the cortex in mice 8 months of age. Moreover, bexarotene treatment improved remote memory stabilization in fear conditioned mice and improved olfactory cross habituation. These improvements in neuron viability and function were correlated with significant increases in the levels of post-synaptic marker PSD95 and the pre-synaptic marker synaptophysin. Moreover, bexarotene pretreatment improved neuron survival in primary 5XFAD neurons in vitro in response to glutamate-induced excitotoxicity. The salutary effects of bexarotene were accompanied by reduced plaque burden, decreased astrogliosis, and suppression of inflammatory gene expression. Collectively, these data provide evidence that bexarotene treatment reduced neuron loss, elevated levels of markers of synaptic integrity that was linked to improved cognition and in an aggressive model of AD.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
6
6%
Medicine and Dentistry
6
6%
Chemistry
5
5%
Other
12
13%
Unknown
34
35%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 13. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 21 July 2026.
All research outputs
#3,619,854
of 34,208,280 outputs
Outputs from Scientific Reports
#31,581
of 183,269 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#50,195
of 346,795 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Scientific Reports
#925
of 4,795 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,208,280 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 89th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 183,269 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 18.1. This one has done well, scoring higher than 82% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 346,795 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 85% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 4,795 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 80% of its contemporaries.
