Substance P-like immunoreactivity is reduced in Alzheimer's disease cerebral cortex.
Substance P is an undecapeptide which has been found in human cortical neurons. We measured concentrations of this peptide in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and control postmortem tissue by radioimmunoassay. Using high-performance liquid chromatography, most of the immunoreactivity from AD or control temporal cortex comigrated with synthetic standards. Significant reductions of 20 to 40% in substance P-like immunoreactivity were found in AD cerebral cortex and hippocampus, most severe in the inferior temporal gyrus. Substance P neurons or their terminals are vulnerable to the pathophysiologic process in AD.
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D013373:Substance P / Q000378:metabolism*
D013373:Substance P