Somatostatin- and neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive neurons in the neocortex in senile dementia of Alzheimer's type.
Morphological changes in neocortical somatostatin- and neuropeptide-Y-immunoreactive cells in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT) were studied using light-microscopic immunohistochemical methods. The density of somatostatin-immunoreactive cells in the neocortex did not decrease in cases of SDAT compared with aged normal subjects. However, many somatostatin-positive fibers were abnormally swollen and bulbous in shape and they were often observed within senile plaques. The morphology of these swollen and bulbous fibers was similar to that of the swollen neurites present in senile plaques demonstrated by the silver-impregnation method. Similar fiber abnormalities were observed in sections stained with antibodies to neuropeptide Y. Somatostatin-positive cells in aged normal subjects were distributed from layer II through to the subcortical white matter. These cells were multipolar, bitufted, or pyramidal in shape, with the majority of cells being of the multipolar type. Neuropeptide Y-positive cells also were distributed from layer II through to the subcortical white matter. Most of these cells were multipolar, but a few bipolar cells were also observed. We suggest that a primary degenerative process might begin at the fiber terminals of the somatostatin neuronal system in the neocortex in SDAT.
Nakamura
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D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000378:metabolism*
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D013004:Somatostatin