*4.3. Transgenic Animals*

The Tg2576 line over-expressing human APP695 was used as a model of AD in this study. This line contains the human mutated APPswe that includes the double mutation M671L and K670N under the control of the prion protein promoter [18]. This mouse line of AD was generously donated by Dr. Carro [80]. These mice develop age-dependent AD-type neuropathology [18]. Tg2576 mice show elevated levels of the major soluble form of brain amyloid (Aβ1-40) at 1 year old. An intercross between APP Tg2576 and Wild-type (WT) C57BL6 was performed in order to obtain WT littermate controls.

Transgenic (Tg) animals were generated by breeding the mice according to the following diagram: male APPswe × female WT → APPswe (50/57.6) and WT (50/42.4)—(the numbers in brackets show the expected/found genotype frequencies of the offspring expressed in %).

Eighteen WT mice were divided into 2 experimental groups, WT control (WT, *n* = 11) and LGF treated group (WT-LGF, *n* = 7). APPswe mice were also divided in APPswe control (APP, *n* = 12) and LGF treated APPswe (APP-LGF, *n* = 16). Four mice per group were used for histological assays, and 4 to 10 mice were used for biochemical studies. All mice included in each experimental group were used for behavioral studies. The animals were studied at 21 months of age.
