TY - JOUR
T1 - Alzheimer's disease
T2 - Neurofibrillary tangles in nuclei that project to the cerebral cortex
AU - German, D. C.
AU - White, C. L.
AU - Sparkman, D. R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements-Thirse searchw as supportedb y grants from the National Institutes of Health (NS-20030),t he Greater Dallas Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Diseasea nd RelatedD isordersA ssociation,t he Aradine S. Ard Fund, the Lou and Ellen McGinley Lectureship( DCG) and the Alzheimer’sD iseasea nd RelatedD isordersA ssociation (84-1482C)D RSI.T he authorsw ould like to thank Mr S. Askari f&histological assistanceM, S L. Boyntonf or secretarial assistancea nd Dr C. B. Saperf or helpfuld iscussions. Thanks also go to Dr K. Z. Altshuler for support and encouragemenotf this researchp roject.
PY - 1987/5
Y1 - 1987/5
N2 - We have used an antibody to the paired helical filament protein to immunohistochemically identify the regional distribution of subcortical nuclei containing neurofibrillary tangles in brains from Alzheimer's disease patients. Sections were examined from the cerebral cortex, diencephalon, midbrain and pons in seven Alzheimer's and three age-matched normal brains. The antibody sensitively stained the many tangles, and senile plaques, in the cerebral cortex of the Alzheimer's brains and the few tangles and senile plaques in the aged normal cortex. Ten subcortical nuclei contained many tangles in the Alzheimer's brains. The tangles were found not only within the locus coeruleus and dorsal raphe nucleus, which often have been shown to be involved in Alzheimer's neuropathology, but also within several other nuclei not previously related to this disease. For example, tangles were found in the nucleus paranigralis, peripeduncular nucleus, medial parabrachial nucleus and several midline thalamic nuclei. All of the nuclei which contained tangles have been shown, in neuroanatomical tracing studies, to project to the cerebral cortex. These data (a) indicate that Alzheimer's disease is a disease of the cerebral cortex and the numerous subcortical nuclei which diffusely innervate it, and (b) are consistent with the hypothesis that the cerebral cortex is the primary target of the disease and the interconnected subcortical nuclei are secondarily affected due to retrograde transport of a cortical pathogen or failure of normal transport of a trophic agent.
AB - We have used an antibody to the paired helical filament protein to immunohistochemically identify the regional distribution of subcortical nuclei containing neurofibrillary tangles in brains from Alzheimer's disease patients. Sections were examined from the cerebral cortex, diencephalon, midbrain and pons in seven Alzheimer's and three age-matched normal brains. The antibody sensitively stained the many tangles, and senile plaques, in the cerebral cortex of the Alzheimer's brains and the few tangles and senile plaques in the aged normal cortex. Ten subcortical nuclei contained many tangles in the Alzheimer's brains. The tangles were found not only within the locus coeruleus and dorsal raphe nucleus, which often have been shown to be involved in Alzheimer's neuropathology, but also within several other nuclei not previously related to this disease. For example, tangles were found in the nucleus paranigralis, peripeduncular nucleus, medial parabrachial nucleus and several midline thalamic nuclei. All of the nuclei which contained tangles have been shown, in neuroanatomical tracing studies, to project to the cerebral cortex. These data (a) indicate that Alzheimer's disease is a disease of the cerebral cortex and the numerous subcortical nuclei which diffusely innervate it, and (b) are consistent with the hypothesis that the cerebral cortex is the primary target of the disease and the interconnected subcortical nuclei are secondarily affected due to retrograde transport of a cortical pathogen or failure of normal transport of a trophic agent.
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U2 - 10.1016/0306-4522(87)90123-0
DO - 10.1016/0306-4522(87)90123-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 3302759
AN - SCOPUS:0023247155
SN - 0306-4522
VL - 21
SP - 305
EP - 312
JO - Neuroscience
JF - Neuroscience
IS - 2
ER -