title: Distribution of brain cytochrome oxidase activity in various neurodegenerative diseases.
abstract: Cytochrome oxidase (CO) is the terminal complex of the mitochondrial respiratory chain which generates ATP by oxidative phosphorylation. We have measured CO activity in six different brain regions of patients with senile dementia of Alzheimer type (SDAT, n = 10), presenile dementia of Alzheimer type (PDAT, n = 10), Lewy body dementia with SDAT (LBD, n = 5), cerebrovascular dementia (CVD, n = 10), Parkinson dementia (PD, n = 5), and in controls (n = 8), as all confirmed by neuropathological evaluation. CO activity was lower in the frontal and parietal cortex of SDAT patients compared to controls. Patients with PDAT, LBD, CVD or PD showed no significant reduction of the enzymatic activity in the six regions studied. Our results show that reduced CO activity might play a role in the physiopathology of senile dementia of Alzheimer type.
authors.affiliation: Projet IMAGE, Centre de Recherche du Centre hospitalier Côte-des-Neiges, University of Montreal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chagnon
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bétard
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Robitaille
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cholette
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gauvreau
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000201:enzymology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000201:enzymology*; D003704:Dementia / Q000201:enzymology*; D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D003576:Electron Transport Complex IV