Examining the Role of Microglia and Astroglia During the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease via the Puri-Li Model.

The Puri-Li kinetic model is explored here to study the contribution of microglia and astroglia during the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). This is carried out by solving the Puri-Li model under steady-state conditions. The derived expressions show that both of them play a role in the pathogenesis of AD. Examination of the steady-state solutions where microglia and astroglia are involved shows that equilibrium conditions are achieved by microglia and astroglia destroying neurons. These findings from this model are in agreement with the results in the literature, where microglia and astroglia are considered to act as inflammatory cells producing toxins to destroy neurons. In addition, the study also showed that the number ratio of the total astroglial cells to the total microglial cells increases with the progression of AD. With advances in three dimensional imaging and selective staining, this ratio could be used as a valuable marker to monitor AD.