Occurrence of T cells in the brain of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological diseases.
We investigated the occurrence of T cells in the brain parenchyma of Alzheimer's disease (AD), non-AD degenerative dementias and controls by semi-quantitative analysis of immunohistochemically stained tissue sections. In all cases, we found at least some T cells. The number of T cells was increased in the majority of AD cases compared with other cases. The phenotype of T cells in the AD brain indicates that they are activated but are not fully differentiated. Antigen-triggered clonal expansion is not likely to take place. Local inflammatory conditions might cause accumulation and activation of T cells in the AD brain.
Togo
Takashi
T
Tokyo Institute of Psychiatry, 2-1-8 Kamikitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8585, Japan.
Akiyama
Haruhiko
H
Iseki
Eizo
E
Kondo
Hiromi
H
Ikeda
Kenji
K
Kato
Masanori
M
Oda
Tatsuro
T
Tsuchiya
Kuniaki
K
Kosaka
Kenji
K
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D010641:Phenotype; D013601:T-Lymphocytes