title: Increased levels of DNA breaks in cerebral cortex of Alzheimer's disease patients.
abstract: It has been hypothesized that Alzheimer's disease (AD) is caused by an accumulation of damage in DNA due to defective DNA-repair (21). Attempts to test this hypothesis by determining the activity of DNA-repair systems in nonneuronal cells from AD patients and controls so far provided conflicting results. An alternative approach is the direct comparison of DNA-damage levels in neuronal tissue of AD patients and controls. In the present study we assayed the level of DNA breaks and alkali-labile sites in cerebral cortex tissue samples from AD patients and controls obtained from rapid autopsies. Our data on 11 AD patients and 8 control subjects indicate an at least two-fold higher level of DNA damage in cortex of AD patients as compared to controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, TNO Institute for Experimental Gerontology, Rijswijk, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mullaart
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Boerrigter
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ravid
authors.forename: D F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Swaab
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vijg
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D004249:DNA Damage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged