title: Extensive loss of choline acetyltransferase activity is not reflected by neuronal loss in the nucleus of Meynert in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Choline acetyltransferase activity in discrete tissue punches from the nucleus of Meynert and in tissue from the temporal cortex was reduced by at least 90% and 75%, respectively, in 5 out of 6 elderly cases of Alzheimer's disease compared with 5 normal cases. In contrast, estimates of neurone density in these same cases revealed that there was only, on average, a 33% neurone loss in the nucleus of Meynert in Alzheimer's disease. These observations suggest that a key pathological change in Alzheimer's disease may be the 'down regulation' of transmitter-specific enzyme production in cholinergic neurones, and that neurone loss itself may be a secondary feature of the disease.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000201:enzymology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000201:enzymology*; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism*; D002799:Cholinergic Fibers / Q000201:enzymology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000201:enzymology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000201:enzymology; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase