The pattern of NADPH-diaphorase staining, a marker of nitric oxide synthase activity, is altered in the perforant pathway terminal zone in Alzheimer's disease.
NADPH-diaphorase positive neurons are relatively spared in Alzheimer's disease (AD). We show here, however, that the pattern of NADPH-diaphorase staining in the neuropil of the hippocampus changes dramatically in the brains of patients with AD. Control individuals displayed a striking band of NADPH-diaphorase staining in the middle 1/3 of the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus; this band was absent in AD. Staining in the molecular layer was reduced 18-31% in AD (P < 0.001) with the greatest loss in the most severely affected cases. NADPH diaphorase is thought to reflect the presence of nitric oxide synthase. Because nitric oxide has been implicated in long-term potentiation, changes in its expression could reflect loss of synapses important for memory formation.
Rebeck
G W
GW
Neurology Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston 02114.
Marzloff
K
K
Hyman
B T
BT
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000201:enzymology*; D000594:Amino Acid Oxidoreductases / Q000032:analysis*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase / Q000032:analysis*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase
D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D000594:Amino Acid Oxidoreductases; D009252:NADPH Dehydrogenase