The neuropathology of Alzheimer disease in African American and white individuals.
BACKGROUND
Data from neuropathologic studies of the frequency of Alzheimer disease (AD) among African American persons conflict as to whether the neuropathologic phenotype of AD is identical in African American and white persons.


OBJECTIVE
To examine clinical and neuropathologic phenotypes of AD in African American individuals and to compare AD and vascular burdens between African American and white persons.


METHODS
Ten African American decedents who underwent brain autopsy at the Washington University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center were matched for age, sex, and Clinical Dementia Rating with 10 white decedents between January 1, 1990, and January 1, 2000. The presence and degree of neurofibrillary tangles, senile plaques, Lewy bodies, cerebral infarcts, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy were determined.


RESULTS
All 20 individuals had a neuropathologic diagnosis of AD. There were no group differences in the presence or number of infarcts, plaques, tangles, Lewy bodies, or amyloid angiopathy.


CONCLUSIONS
In this small sample, we found no substantive differences in the neuropathology of AD among African American and white individuals.
Wilkins
Consuelo H
CH
Department of Internal Medicine, Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA. cwilkins@im.wustl.edu
Grant
Elizabeth A
EA
Schmitt
Sarah E
SE
McKeel
Daniel W
DW
Morris
John C
JC
D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D016657:Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy / Q000473:pathology; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016631:Lewy Bodies / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000473:pathology; D058225:Plaque, Amyloid / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D044465:White People