title: Association of butyrylcholinesterase K variant with cholinesterase-positive neuritic plaques in the temporal cortex in late-onset Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: In confirmed late-onset (>65 years) Alzheimer's disease, we found a greater load, both of overall neuritic plaques and of cholinesterase-positive neuritic plaques, in the temporal cortex of carriers of the butyrylcholinesterase K variant (BCHE-K) aged <80 years than of all other patients. The differences were most striking in the case of cholinesterase-positive neuritic plaques. Among BCHE-K carriers, densities of such plaques were over six times higher in patients <80 years at death than in those >80 years (P=0.01). Furthermore, in subjects <80 years, BCHE-K carriers had nearly six-fold greater densities of these plaques than non-carriers (P=0.009). We consider three potential explanations for these findings: that the K variant binds more readily to plaque constituents, that it promotes fibril formation or that it induces aberrant neurite growth.
authors.affiliation: Oxford Project to Investigate Memory & Ageing (OPTIMA), Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, UK. donald.lehmann@pharm.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Litchfield
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Borja
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002091:Butyrylcholinesterase / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D058225:Plaque, Amyloid / Q000201:enzymology*; D017354:Point Mutation; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D002091:Butyrylcholinesterase