title: beta-Amyloid (A beta) deposition in elderly non-demented patients and patients with Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: beta-amyloid (A beta) deposition in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) was studied in elderly non-demented (ND) cases and in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). In AD, A beta deposits were present throughout the MTL although density was less in the hippocampus than the adjacent cortical regions. In the ND cases, no A beta deposits were recorded in 6 cases and in the remaining 8 cases, A beta deposits were confined to the cortical regions adjacent to the hippocampus. The mean density of A beta deposits in the cortical regions examined was greater in AD than in the ND cases but there was a significant overlap between the two groups. The ratio of mature to diffuse A beta deposits was greater in the ND than the AD cases. In both patient groups, A beta deposits formed clusters in the cortex and many tissues exhibited a regular distribution of clusters along the cortex parallel to the pia. The mean dimension of the A beta clusters was greater in AD than in the ND cases. Hence, few aspects of A beta deposition appeared to consistently separate AD from ND cases. However, the spread of A beta pathology between modular units of the cortex and into regions of the hippocampus could be factors in the development of AD.
authors: Aston University, Birmingham, UK.
authors: R A
authors: RA
authors: Armstrong
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D003704:Dementia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009928:Organ Specificity
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides