title: Stereological analysis of microvascular parameters in a double transgenic model of Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Morphological alterations in microvasculature occur as a common finding in the brains of non-demented aged persons and patients with Alzheimer's disease. Quantifying the extent of this vascular pathology, however, has been complicated by systematic error (bias) associated with the applications of assumption- and model-based morphometric techniques to human and animal tissues. The current study used novel assumption- and model-free stereological approaches to quantify capillary parameters in the corpus callosum of a double amyloid precursor protein/presenilin-1 transgenic murine model of Alzheimer's disease. The results revealed significant reductions in the total number of capillary segments in white matter of transgenic mice compared to non-transgenic littermates, with no differences in total capillary length. These findings support the view that the expression of mutant human genes for beta-amyloid peptides alters the normal architecture of cerebral capillary vessels in the white matter of mouse brain, which may model microvasculature changes reported in Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Experimental Gerontology, Behavioral Neuroscience Section, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, 5600 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA.
authors.forename: Garrick D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Juliana H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Aruna
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.forename: De-Liang
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.forename: Donald K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Ingram
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Mouton
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000235:genetics; D002196:Capillaries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D053764:Presenilin-1; D012016:Reference Values; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques
chemical_list: D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C508853:PSEN1 protein, human; D053764:Presenilin-1