title: Differential laminar distribution of acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase containing tangles in the cerebral cortex of Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: A sensitive histochemical method for the visualization of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) activity was used to determine the laminar distribution of cholinesterase-positive cortical tangles in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In many cortical areas AChE- and BChE-positive tangles displayed a completely overlapping distribution. In other areas the most superficial layers contained only AChE-positive tangles whereas the deepest layers contained only BChE-positive tangles. These observations suggest that some cholinesterase-positive tangles have a predominantly (if not exclusively) AChE-like reactivity whereas others have a reactivity that is predominantly BChE-like. The intermingling of AChE- and BChE-positive tangles in most cortical areas and layers suggests that there may also be a third population in which the two enzymes are equally prominent in the same tangle.
authors: Bullard Laboratory, Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors: A E
authors: AE
authors: Coleman
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Geula
authors: B H
authors: BH
authors: Price
authors: M M
authors: MM
authors: Mesulam
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000201:enzymology*; D002091:Butyrylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000201:enzymology*; D005260:Female; D006651:Histocytochemistry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000201:enzymology*; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase; D002091:Butyrylcholinesterase