Title | Fibrillar amyloid-beta affects neurofibrillary changes but only in neurons already involved in neurofibrillary degeneration. |
Publication Type | Journal Article |
Year of Publication | 2001 |
Authors | Wegiel J, Bobinski M, Tarnawski M, Dziewiatkowski J, Popovitch E, Miller DC, Wisniewski T, Golomb J, de Leon MJ, Reisberg B |
Journal | Acta Neuropathol |
Volume | 101 |
Issue | 6 |
Pagination | 585-90 |
Date Published | 2001 Jun |
ISSN | 0001-6322 |
Keywords | Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Amyloid beta-Peptides, Amyloidosis, Brain, Female, Humans, Male, Nerve Degeneration, Neurofibrillary Tangles, Neurons, Plaque, Amyloid |
Abstract | The aim of this study of the cerebral cortex of 8 non-demented elderly subjects and of 17 subjects in the severe stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD) (Global Deterioration Scale stage 7/Functional Assessment Staging procedure stage 7a-f) was to examine the relationships between amyloid-beta (Abeta) deposits and neurofibrillary degeneration. The study shows that neuronal processes with neurofibrillary changes are detectable in only a minority of fibrillar plaques: from 31% to 49% of fibrillar plaques within frontal, temporal, parietal, limbic, occipital, and insular cortices. The correlations observed between the numerical densities of neurons with neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and the densities of Thioflavin-S-positive fibrillar plaques with neurofibrillary changes (r=0.61; P<0.01) indicate that neurofibrillary pathology in neocortical plaques reflects the topography and rate of neurofibrillary changes in neocortical neurons. The accumulation of abnormally phosphorylated tau in only some plaques indicates that fibrillar Abeta enhances paired helical filament accumulation locally only in dystrophic neurites already involved in neurofibrillary degeneration. The lack of correlation between the number of neurons with neurofibrillary changes and the number of all Thioflavin-S-positive fibrillar plaques (with and without neurofibrillary changes) suggests that beta-amyloidosis does not contribute to initiation of neurofibrillary degeneration in neurons. |
DOI | 10.1007/s004010000334 |
Alternate Journal | Acta Neuropathol |
PubMed ID | 11515787 |
Grant List | AG03051 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States AG08051 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States P01-HD35897 / HD / NICHD NIH HHS / United States |
Related Institute:
Brain Health Imaging Institute (BHII)