A disorder of cortical GABAergic innervation in Alzheimer's disease.
Synaptosomal gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) uptake has been used as a biochemical marker for GABAergic terminals in controls and Alzheimer disease brains. Use of this marker suggests a large (ca. 70%) loss of cortical and hippocampal GABA terminals in Alzheimer brain. To explain this observation we suggest that neuron loss in this disorder occurs via a process of cortical retrograde degeneration. This scheme reconciles our findings with previous neurochemical measurements on Alzheimer disease brains and also better reconciles the biochemistry with the histology of the disorder.
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013574:Synaptosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000502:physiology*
D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid