Stability of cell size and nucleolar size in tangle-bearing neurons of the hippocampus in Alzheimer's disease.
Samples of 14 brains of autopsied patients suffering from dementia of the Alzheimer type were examined. In Congo red-hemalum stained 14-microns-thick sections of the hippocampus 15 tangle-bearing and 25-30 unaffected nerve cells of area CA1 per case were measured for cell size and nucleolar size utilizing an interactive image processing unit. In affected cells tangle size was measured too. There was no significant difference in neuron size and nucleolar size between affected and unaffected cells. In tangle-bearing cells nucleolar size and cell size were not correlated with tangle size. Since nucleolar volume can serve as an indicator of RNA synthesis of a cell, tangles themselves seem not to disturb nerve cell metabolism.
Gertz
H J
HJ
Department of Geriatric Psychiatry, Free University Berlin, Berlin, F.R.G.
Schoknecht
G
G
Krüger
H
H
Cervos-Navarro
J
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009454:Neurofibrils / Q000473:pathology*; D009697:Nucleolus Organizer Region / Q000473:pathology*