title: Dendritic pathology and spinal loss in the visual cortex in Alzheimer's disease: a Golgi study in pathology.
abstract: Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive decline in memory, loss of professional skills, impairment of judgement and behavior, and decline in social performances. In terms of neuropathology, the morphological hallmarks of the disease are the accumulation of alpha-beta peptide and the neurofibrillary degeneration, associated with synaptic alterations, involving mostly the dendritic spines. This study is based on the morphological analysis of 10 brains, 5 of which were obtained from patients who suffered from Alzheimer's disease and 5 from nondemented senile individuals used as control group. The segments taken in major from the occipital lobe were studied with the use of Golgi method, as well as Gallyas' and Bielschowski' s staining methods. In most of the pyramidal cells in the affected brains, there seems to be important spine loss and extensive dendrite pathology. Apical dendrites are distorted and tortuous. Horizontal dendritic arborization is severely decreased leading to an amputated, bell-shaped cell soma. Senile plaques have been often revealed, and neurofibrillary changes have also been noticed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuropathology and Electron Microscopy, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece. iamav79@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Ioannis A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Mavroudis
authors.forename: Dimitrios F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Fotiou
authors.forename: Marina G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Manani
authors.forename: Samuel N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Njaou
authors.forename: Domna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frangou
authors.forename: Vasiliki G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Stavros J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Baloyannis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D002452:Cell Count; D048429:Cell Size; D003712:Dendrites / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D022001:Focal Adhesions / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000473:pathology; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000473:pathology; D016622:Silver Staining; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000473:pathology*