Decreased concentrations of GLUT1 and GLUT3 glucose transporters in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease

• Published in: Annals of neurology Vol. 35; no. 5; p. 546
• Main Authors: Simpson, I A, Chundu, K R, Davies-Hill, T, Honer, W G, Davies, P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.05.1994
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - metabolism; Brain - metabolism; Caudate Nucleus - metabolism; Cerebral Cortex - metabolism; Glucose - metabolism; Glucose Transporter Type 1; Glucose Transporter Type 3; Hippocampus - metabolism; Humans; Immunoblotting; Middle Aged; Monosaccharide Transport Proteins - analysis; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Reference Values
• ISSN: 0364-5134
• DOI: 10.1002/ana.410350507

Glucose metabolism is depressed in the temporal and parietal regions of the cortex in patients with Alzheimer's disease. We measured the concentrations of two glucose transporters, GLUT1 and GLUT3, in six regions of brains from both control subjects and patients with Alzheimer's disease. The concentrations of both transporters were reduced in the cerebral cortex, with larger and highly significant reductions observed for GLUT3, the putative neuronal glucose transporter. The reductions in GLUT3 were greater than the loss of synapses, and should be considered as a potential cause of the deficits in glucose metabolism.