A quantitative study of neurofibrillary tangles, senile plaques and astrocytes in the hippocampal subdivisions and entorhinal cortex in Alzheimer's disease, normal controls and non‐Alzheimer neuropsychiatric diseases

• Published in: Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences Vol. 52; no. 6; pp. 593 - 599
• Main Authors: MURAMORI, FUMIHIKO, KOBAYASHI, KATSUJI, NAKAMURA, ICHIROU
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.1998; Blackwell Publishing
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease - metabolism; Alzheimer Disease - pathology; Alzheimer's disease; astrocytes; Astrocytes - metabolism; Astrocytes - pathology; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Chemistry; Cell Count; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; entorhinal cortex; Entorhinal Cortex - metabolism; Entorhinal Cortex - pathology; Female; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein - metabolism; hippocampus; Hippocampus - metabolism; Hippocampus - pathology; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Nervous System Diseases - metabolism; Nervous System Diseases - pathology; neurofibrillary tangles; Neurofibrillary Tangles - metabolism; Neurofibrillary Tangles - pathology; Neurology; Plaque, Amyloid - metabolism; Plaque, Amyloid - pathology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; senile plaques; Human; Nervous system diseases; Senile plate; Alzheimer disease; Postmortem; Astrocyte; Neurofibrillary tangle; Cerebral disorder; Entorhinal cortex; Central nervous system disease; Mental disorder; Degenerative disease; Comparative study; Hippocampus; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 1323-1316; 1440-1819
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1819.1998.tb02706.x

The present quantitative study was performed in order to discriminate pathological substrates for dementia from Alzheimer changes in normal controls (NC) and non‐Alzheimer neuropsychiatric diseases (NAND). Regional densities of senile plaques (SP), neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and astrocytes in the cornu ammonis (CA), subiculum and entorhinal cortex were measured and differences in these densities among Alzheimer's disease (AD), NAND and NC were statistically compared. Densities of NFT in the CA and subiculum were significantly higher in AD than in NAND, and densities of SP in all regions were significantly higher in AD than in NAND. Similarly, NFT density in the subiculum and SP density in all regions were higher in AD than in NC. Regional densities of astrocytes in most regions were closely correlated with those of Alzheimer changes. In conclusion, the attribution of the Alzheimer changes, particularly of NFT, to dementia is neglected when they are confined to the entorhinal cortex. However, the attribution of the Alzheimer changes to dementia should be appreciated when they spread from the entorhinal cortex to the subiculum and/or CA.