Quantification of regional glial fibrillary acidic protein levels in Alzheimer's disease.
OBJECTIVE
Our objectives were to quantify glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases, and non-AD controls to determine the regions with the most severe gliosis in AD.


METHODS
In a case control design, we used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to quantify GFAP in frozen brain from four areas of neocortex in 10 AD cases, 10 age-matched controls, and 10 younger controls from the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study autopsy archive.


RESULTS
Median age at death was 83.5 years for cases and age-matched controls, and 77 years for younger controls. For the AD cases compared with the age-matched controls, levels of GFAP in occipital (P=0.01), parietal (P=0.028), and temporal lobes (P=0.004) (but not frontal) were significantly higher in the cases. The median GFAP excess in AD cases compared with age matched controls was highest in the temporal lobe.


CONCLUSIONS
Regional quantification of GFAP reveals that the glial response is most prominent in the temporal lobe in AD.
Ross
G W
GW
Department of Veterans Affairs, Honolulu, HI, USA. ross@phri.hawaii-health.com
O'Callaghan
J P
JP
Sharp
D S
DS
Petrovitch
H
H
Miller
D B
DB
Abbott
R D
RD
Nelson
J
J
Launer
L J
LJ
Foley
D J
DJ
Burchfiel
C M
CM
Hardman
J
J
White
L R
LR
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism*; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000737:chemistry; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000737:chemistry; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000737:chemistry; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000737:chemistry; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000737:chemistry
D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein