title: Colocalization and alteration of estrogen receptor-alpha and -beta in the hippocampus in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: The human hippocampus is severely affected in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Because postmenopausal estrogen use may decrease the risk and delay the onset and progression of AD, possibly by a direct action on the hippocampal neurons, we used fluorescence immunocytochemistry to examine the colocalization of estrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha) and estrogen receptor-beta (ERbeta) in the hippocampus of elderly human controls and AD patients. Double-labeling cells (DLCs) of ERalpha and ERbeta can be divided into 3 types: double-cytoplasm-staining cells (DCCs), double-nucleus-staining cells (DNCs), and ERalpha nucleus-staining and ERbeta cytoplasm-staining cells (NCCs). There was no difference in the percentage of DLCs in total ERalpha-positive cells or in total ERbeta-positive cells in the CA1 to CA4 subfields of the hippocampus between controls and AD patients. Interestingly, the ratio of DNCs to the total ERalpha-positive cells (2.6% +/- 0.5%) or to the total ERbeta-positive cells (1.8% +/- 0.3%) in the CA1 subfield of the AD hippocampus was significantly decreased in comparison with controls (5.0% +/- 0.7% and 3.9% +/- 0.6%, respectively; P<0.001), suggesting that changes in the compartmentalization of these receptors could play a role in the pathogenesis of AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology, Life Sciences School, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Ya-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Dick F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Swaab
authors.forename: Rivka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ravid
authors.forename: Jiang-Ning
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002452:Cell Count; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D047629:Estrogen Receptor beta; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; D047629:Estrogen Receptor beta; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen