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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Cellular Distribution and Expression of Cortical Acetylcholine Receptors in Aging and Alzheimer's Disease
Alfred MaelickePaul G.m. LuitenAndré D. StrosbergRobert G. StrubleHannsjörg SchröderKarl ZillesEzio Giacobinisubject
Agingmedicine.medical_specialtyCORTEXGeneral Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular BiologyHistory and Philosophy of ScienceAlzheimer DiseaseInternal medicineMuscarinic acetylcholine receptormedicineHumansReceptors CholinergicBinding siteReceptorNEURONSAcetylcholine receptorCerebral CortexChemistryGeneral Neurosciencemedicine.diseaseCHOLINOCEPTORSCortex (botany)medicine.anatomical_structureEndocrinologyNicotinic agonistCerebral cortexAlzheimer's diseasedescription
Ligand binding studies show marked reductions of nicotinic, but not of muscarinic binding sites in Alzheimer's disease. Using monoclonal antibodies we studied immunohistochemically the expression of the respective receptor proteins in the frontal cortex of middle-aged (55 +/- 5 yr) controls, age-matched controls (73 +/- 6 yr), and patients with Alzheimer's disease (74 +/- 5 yr). Density of nicotinic cholinoceptive neurons was 8000/mm3 for middle-aged controls and 4000/mm3 for age-matched controls, but only 900/mm3 in Alzheimer's brains (p less than 0.0001). Densities of muscarinic cholinoceptive and of Nissl-stained neurons were not significantly different between the groups, pointing to a selective decrease of nicotinic receptor protein expression in cortical neurons with aging and in Alzheimer's disease.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991-12-03 |