Alzheimer plaque density and duration of dementia.
Thirty-two post-mortem Alzheimer cases with known duration of dementia were studied. Senile plaques (SP) in the neocortex and entorhinal cortex adjacent to the right hippocampus were stained with an antiserum to A4-beta-protein, which is specific for the amyloid protein and detects all plaque types including the amyloid-sparse diffuse plaques. The total number of SP per mm(2) of neocortex was significantly correlated to the duration of dementia (P<0.01). The total of beta-A4 stained tissue per mm(2) neocortex was also correlated to the duration of dementia (P<0.05). Our results support the assumption that more and more plaques form during the course of Alzheimer's disease and that they either disappear more slowly than they are generated or that they persist once they are formed.
Beer
R E
RE
Institute of Pathology, University of Basel, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland.
Ulrich
J
J