Reduced D-[3H]aspartate binding in Down's syndrome brains.
The binding of D-[3H]aspartate to glutamate uptake sites was measured in post-mortem brains from subjects with Down's syndrome (DS) and age-matched controls. DS brains had substantially reduced D-[3H]aspartate binding in the frontal and temporal cortex, hippocampus and caudate nucleus. There was no correlation between the numbers of Alzheimer-like plaques and tangles or clinically-assessed dementia and D-[3H]aspartate binding in DS brains. The binding of [3H]N-(1-[2-thienyl]cyclohexyl)piperidine ([3H]TCP) to postsynaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate sites was normal in DS brains. This study suggests that the reduction in glutamate uptake sites in DS is more substantial and widespread than in Alzheimer's disease.
Simpson
M D
MD
Departments of Physiological Sciences, University of Manchester Medical School, U.K.
Slater
P
P
Cross
A J
AJ
Mann
D M
DM
Royston
M C
MC
Deakin
J F
JF
Reynolds
G P
GP
D000368:Aged; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000378:metabolism*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010622:Phencyclidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D017470:Receptors, Glutamate; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter / Q000378:metabolism*
D017470:Receptors, Glutamate; D017981:Receptors, Neurotransmitter; D001224:Aspartic Acid; C012058:tenocyclidine; D010622:Phencyclidine