No changes in neocortical cell volumes or glial cell numbers in chronic alcoholic subjects compared to control subjects.

Aims: To study if the total glial cell population in the neocortex is intact in subjects with a history of severe alcohol abuse compared to control subjects. Further, to investigate whether the cortical nerve cell nuclei and nerve cell perikarya volumes are the same in chronic alcoholic subjects as in the control subjects.

Methods: Using the stereological method, the optical rotator in a vertical design, the perikaryon cell volume and nuclei cell volume in the neocortex and its four subdivisions were studied in 11 alcoholics and 10 control subjects.

No global loss of neocortical neurons in Parkinson's disease: a quantitative stereological study.

The global total number of neocortical neurons was estimated in 10 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD; mean age, 74.8 years; range, 68-83) and compared to 12 comparison subjects (mean age, 75.8 years; range, 70 - 84).

Clinical characteristics of Parkinson's disease among Inuit in Greenland and inhabitants of the Faroe Islands and Als (Denmark).

In earlier studies, we found high age-adjusted prevalences of Parkinson's disease (PD) in the Faroe Islands (209 per 100,000 inhabitants) and in Greenland (187.5 per 100,000 inhabitants) compared to the age-adjusted prevalence on the island of Als in the southern part of Denmark (98.3 per 100,000 inhabitants).

Mutation analysis of the Sonic hedgehog promoter and putative enhancer elements in Parkinson's disease patients.

Sonic hedgehog (SHH) is involved in the induction and differentiation of nigrostriatale dopaminergic neurons. We have investigated the promoter, two putative enhancer elements and the coding region of SHH for mutations in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). None of the identified sequence variations were present at a significantly different frequency in PD patients compared to healthy individuals, suggesting that they are not involved in the pathogenesis of PD.

Neocortical glial cell numbers in Alzheimer's disease. A stereological study.

Most studies agree that specific regions of the hippocampus and specific subcortical regions show neuronal loss in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of the study was to use design-based stereological methods to obtain an estimate of the total glial cell population in 14 AD cases and 20 controls to determine whether brains from AD patients have a different number of neocortical glial cells than controls. The mean total number of neocortical glial cells was 25.

High age-adjusted prevalence of Parkinson's disease among Inuits in Greenland.

The prevalence of PD among Inuits in Greenland has not been determined. The authors found 40 patients with PD at the prevalence date January 1, 2000. The crude prevalence of PD was estimated to be 81.