title: Neuropeptides and neuropathology in the amygdala in Alzheimer's disease: relationship between somatostatin, neuropeptide Y and subregional distribution of neuritic plaques.
abstract: This study examined the amygdaloid complex in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We compared the distribution and morphology of somatostatin (SOM-) and neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive (NPY-IR) neurons in the amygdala with the distribution of neuritic plaques (NP) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) staining patterns in various subnuclei. We found that in AD, there was an increase in the number of small, atrophic neurons for both SOM and NPY, and subregional analysis revealed similar size reductions in all subnuclei. In contrast, the highest density of NP was found in the corticomedial nuclei and densest staining for AChE in the basal nucleus. Although NPY- and SOM-IR fibers were occasionally associated with NP, a dense, morphologically preserved peptidergic fiber-network was found in all areas including subnuclei with high numbers of NP. Our study indicates that atrophic SOM- and NPY-IR neurons are not correlated with the subregional distribution of NP or cholinesterase staining pattern of the amygdala, and suggests that alterations in SOM and NPY neurons are not characteristics of the primary pathogenic process that underlie the formation of NP or cholinergic cell loss in AD.
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000032:analysis; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000679:Amygdala / Q000032:analysis* / Q000473:pathology; D002452:Cell Count; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009454:Neurofibrils / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000032:analysis / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology; D009478:Neuropeptide Y / Q000032:analysis*; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D009478:Neuropeptide Y; D013004:Somatostatin; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase