A quantitative assessment of somatostatin-like and neuropeptide Y-like immunostained cells in the frontal and temporal cortex of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Immunocytochemical studies utilizing radioimmunoassay and morphological techniques have provided conflicting evidence for the involvement of somatostatin and neuropeptide Y in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, previous investigators have not considered the effects of cortical atrophy in AD tissue on their findings. This study reports the numbers of somatostatin-like (SLI) and neuropeptide Y-like immunoreactive (NPYLI) neuronal perikarya and the length of SLI and NPYLI immunoreactive fibres, with appropriate corrections for atrophy in 6 control and 6 AD cases.

A morphological analysis of senile plaques in the brains of non-demented persons of different ages using silver, immunocytochemical and lectin histochemical staining techniques.

The prevalence and severity of senile plaque (SP) formation was investigated in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and amygdala of 60 non-demented individuals of age range 6-84 years, using immunocytochemical (anti-A4 amyloid, anti-PHF protein), lectin histochemical (Con A binding) and silver (Methenamine (MS) and Palmgren), staining methods. By at least one of these methods, 18 patients showed the presence of SP within one or more of these brain regions; 15 of these patients were over 60 years of age. Comparisons between each staining method showed that, in the hippocampus and amygdala all five methods detected the presence and number of SP equally well, whereas, in the cerebral cortex, MS and anti-A4 staining demonstrated more SP in a greater number of patients than did either Con A or Palmgren silver and anti-PHF staining.

The prevalence of amyloid (A4) protein deposits within the cerebral and cerebellar cortex in Down's syndrome and Alzheimer's disease.

The extent of amyloid deposition within the cerebellum and the cerebral cortex was assessed and compared, using anti-amyloid protein (A4) immunostaining and a novel methenamine silver method, in 20 patients aged between 60 and 77 years with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 29 patients aged between 13 and 71 years with Down's syndrome (DS), 26 demented patients with disorders other than AD and DS and in 20 non-demented elderly individuals of age range 60-102 years. In AD, amyloid deposits were noted in the cerebellar cortex in 90% of patients and in the meningeal vessels of the cerebellum in 80% of patients. In DS, amyloid deposits were seen in the cerebellar cortex in 82% of patients over 30 years of age and was universal in patients over 50 years of age.

Immunocytochemical profile of neurofibrillary tangles in Down's syndrome patients of different ages.

Brains were obtained at autopsy from 24 patients with Down's syndrome, ranging in age from 13 to 71 years. Neurofibrillary tangle containing neurones of the hippocampus were stained using a Palmgren silver method and immunocytochemically (PAP) using antisera to paired helical filament protein, human tau protein and ubiquitin, as primary antibody. Counts of cells stained by each method were compared.

An analysis of the morphology of senile plaques in Down's syndrome patients of different ages using immunocytochemical and lectin histochemical techniques.

The morphology of the senile plaque (SP), within the hippocampus and the temporal cortex, has been examined in 21 patients with Down's syndrome (DS), dying between the ages of 13 and 65 years, using immunocytochemical and lectin histochemical methods, as well as with a conventional silver staining technique. The earliest changes detectable within these areas of brain in the younger patients involved a fine diffuse deposition of amyloid (A4) protein and a uniform granular accumulation of an oligosaccharide recognized by the lectin from Canavalia ensiformis (ConA). At this stage, these 'pre-plaque' areas are unrecognizable using silver staining.