Alzheimer's disease: a review concerning immune response and microischemia.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), as we think of it today, is the idiopathic progressive loss of cognitive function over a period of several years. The risk of late onset dementia increases significantly with each decade of life such that half of the population over the age of 80 is vulnerable to this disease (1). We know that proper functioning of the central nervous system is dependent on adequate blood flow to remove harmful metabolic products and supply nutrients such as glucose and oxygen to the brain.

Cells containing immunoreactive estrogen receptor-alpha in the human basal forebrain.

The distribution of estrogen receptor protein-alpha (ER-alpha)-containing cells in the human hypothalamus and adjacent regions was studied using a monoclonal antibody (H222) raised against ER-alpha derived from MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. Reaction product was found in restricted populations of neurons and astrocyte-like cells. Neurons immunoreactive for ER-alpha were diffusely distributed within the basal forebrain and preoptic area, infundibular region, central hypothalamus, basal ganglia and amygdala.

Somatostatin-gene expression in the postmortem adult and fetal human brain.

We have examined the utility of in situ hybridization for detecting pre-prosomatostatin mRNA in postmortem human brain. In preliminary studies, Northern blot analysis using a rat model, which simulates the normal pattern of human post-mortem brain cooling, revealed retention of significant amounts of hybridizable somatostatin mRNA relative to control levels between 12 and 24 hours after death. mRNA extracted from postmortem fetal human brain specimens showed hybridization to cRNA probes directed against pre-prosomatostatin mRNA.

Localization of basic fibroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor in human glial neoplasms.

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are widely recognized as a family of molecules that can influence cell proliferation and tissue neovascularization. Although the basic form of FGF (bFGF) has been found to enhance the growth of primary cell cultures made from human glial tumors, its exact role in vivo has been unclear. Likewise, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a newly discovered addition to the growing list of angiogenic factors but, unlike bFGF, VEGF has a unique specificity for endothelial cells and possesses the properties required for secretion.

Labeling of human retinohypothalamic tract with the carbocyanine dye, DiI.

The carbocyanine dye, DiI, was used to demonstrate human retinohypothalamic tract (RHT) projections in 6 normal human postmortem brains. In 5 of 6 brains, labeling was seen extending from the site of implantation in the distal optic nerve to both the ipsilateral and contralateral suprachiasmatic nuclei. This study confirms the presence of RHT projections in humans, and demonstrates the usefulness of DiI for neuronal tracing in human postmortem tissue.