Abstract
The neuropsychiatric features of Alzheimer-type senile dementia (SDAT) are accompanied by a constellation of histopathological and biochemical abnormalities. At present, it is not known how the major structural changes associated with the disease such as senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) and granulovacuolar degeneration are related to the growing list of neurochemical deficits which have been reported in recent years. The latter include a reduction of neurotransmitters and related enzymes in the cholinergic, noradrenergic and serotoninergic pathways which project diffusely to the cortex from subcortical nuclei (for recent reviews, see Bowen et al. 1984; Bloxham et al. 1985; Hardy et al. 1985). Depletion of the cholinergic markers choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) are amongst the earliest and most severe of the biochemical changes to occur, and loss of these enzymes correlates well with the degree of cognitive impairment (Perry and Perry 1980). In addition to abnormalities in extrinsic cortical systems, there is also evidence for biochemical changes in intrinsic neurones. Thus, the level of immunoreactive somatostatin is reduced, especially in the temporal cortex, (for review, see Rossor et al. 1984), and there is a significant loss of cortical serotonin receptors (Cross et al. 1984). In addition, an increase in 3H-labelled glutamate binding in the caudate nucleus has been interpreted as the consequence of a loss of corticostriatal neurones which use this amino acid as a transmitter (see Davison et al., this volume).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bigl V, Arendt T, Tennstedt A, Arendt A (1984) Different degeneration pattern in sub-divisions of the nucleus basalis in SDAT correlates with predominance in neuritic plaque formation in cortical target areas. In: Vizi ES, Magyar K (eds) Regulation of transmitter function. Academiai Kiado, Budapest, pp 271–274
Blessed G, Tomlinson BE, Roth M (1968) The association between quantitative measures of dementia and of senile change in the cerebral grey matter of elderly subjects. Brit J Psychiatry 114: 797–801
Bloxham CA, Perry EK, Perry RH, Oakley AE, Edwardson JA, Candy JM (1985) Neuropathological and neurochemical correlates of Alzheimer-type and Parkinsonian dementia. In: Iversen SD (ed) Psychopharmacoloy: recent advances and future prospects. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Boegman RJ, Bates LA (1984) Neurotoxicity of aluminium. Can J Physiol Pharmacol 62: 1010–1014
Bowen DM, Davison AN, Francis PT, Neary D, Palmer AM (1984) Alzheimer’s disease: importance of acetylcholine and tanglebearing cortical neurones. In: Wurtman RJ, Corkin SH, Growdon JH (eds) Alzheimer’s disease: advances in basic research and therapies: proceedings of the 3rd meeting of the International Study Group on the Treatment of Memory Disorders Associated with Aging. Zurich, Switzerland, pp 9–27
Bullamore JR, Wilkinson R, Gallagher JC, Nordin BEC, Marshall DH (1970) Effect of age on calcium absorption. Lancet I1: 535–537
Burger PC, Vogel FS (1973) The development of the pathological changes of Alzheimer’s disease and senile dementia in patients with Down’s syndrome. Ann J Pathol 73: 457–476
Candy JM, Oakley AE, Atack J, Perry RH, Perry EK, Edwardson JA (1984) New observations on the nature of senile plaque cores. In: Vizi ES, Magyar K (eds) Regulation of transmitter function. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, pp 301–304
Candy JM, Oakley AE, Klinowski J, Carpenter TA, Perry RH, Atack JR, Perry EK, Blessed G, Fairbairn A, Edwardson JA (1985) Presence of aluminosilicates in senile plaques in the cerebral cortex in Alzheimer’s disease. Submitted to Nature
Cann CE, Prussin SG, Gordon GS (1979) Aluminium uptake by the parathyroid glands. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 49: 543–545
Crapper DR (1976) Functional consequences of neurofibrillary degeneration. In: Terry RD, Gershon S (eds) Neurobiology of aging. Raven, New York, pp 405–432
Crapper DR, Krishman SS, Dalton AJ (1973) Brain aluminium distribution in Alzheimer’s disease and experimental neurofibrillary degeneration. Science 180: 511–513
Crapper DR, Krishman SS, Quittkat S (1976) Aluminium, neurofibrillary degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease. Brain 99: 67–80
Cross AJ, Crow TJ, Ferrier IN, Johnson JA, Bloom SR, Corsellis JAN (1984) Serotonin receptor changes in dementia of the Alzheimer type. J Neurochem 43: 1574–1581
Duckett S, Galle P (1976) Mise en évidence de l’aluminium dans les plaques séniles de la maladie d’Alzheimer: étude de la microsonde de castaing. CR Acad Sci (Paris) 292: 393–395
Duckett S, Galle P (1980) Electron microscope microprobe studies of aluminium in the brains of cases of Alzheimer’s disease and ageing patients. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 39: 350
Farmer VC, Adams MJ, Fraser AR, Palmieri F (1983) Synthetic imogolite: properties, synthesis and possible applications. Clay Miner 18: 459–472
Garruto RM, Gajdusek DC, Chen KM (1980) Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis among Chamarro migrants from Guam. Ann Neurol 8: 612–619
Garruto RM, Fukatsu R, Yanagihara R, Gajdusek DC, Hook G, Fiori CE (1984) Imaging of calcium and aluminium in neurofibrillary tangle-bearing neurones in parkinsonism–dementia of Guam. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 81: 1875–1879
Glenner GG, Eanes ED, Bladen HA, Linke RP, Termine JD (1974) ß-pleated sheet fibrils: a comparison of native amyloid with synthetic protein fibrils. J Histochem Cytochem 22: 1141–1158
Hardy J, Adolfson R, Alafuzoff I, Bucht G, Marcusson J, Nyberg P, Perdahl E, Wester P, Winblad B (1985) Transmitter deficits in Alzheimer’s disease. Neurochem Int (to be published)
Karlik SJ, Eichhorn GL, Lewis PN, Crapper Dr (1980) Interaction of aluminium species with deoxyribonucleic acid. Biochemistry 19: 5991–5998
McDermott JR, Smith AI, Iqbal K, Wisniewski HM (1979) Brain aluminium in aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology 29: 809–814
Malik MN, Meyers LA, Iqbal K, Sheikh AM, Scotto L, Wisniewski HM (1981) Calcium-activated proteolysis of fibrous proteins in central nervous system. Life Sci 29: 795–802
Marsden CD (1982) Basal ganglia disease. Lancet 2: 1141–1147
Marquis JK, Black EG (1984) Aluminium activation and inactivation of bovine caudate acetyl-cholinesterase. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 32: 704–710
Mayor GH, Remedi RF, Sprague SM, Lovell KL (1980) Central nervous system manifestations of oral aluminium: effect of parathyroid hormone. Neurotoxicology 1: 33–42
Nikaido T, Austin J, Trueb L, Rinehart R (1972) Studies in ageing of the brain. II. Microchemical analyses of the nervous system in Alzheimer patients. Arch Neurol 27: 549–554
Oakley AE, Perry RH, Candy JM, Perry EK (1981) Elecron microscopic appearances and implications of neuropeptide fibrillary forms. Neuropeptides 2: 1–11
Perl DP, Brody AR (1980) Alzheimer’s disease: X-ray spectrometric evidence of aluminium accumulation in neurofibrillary tangle-bearing neurones. Science 208: 297–299
Perry EK, Perry RH (1980) The cholinergic system in Alzheimer’s disease. In: Robert PJ (ed) Biochemistry of dementia. John Wiley, Chichester, pp 135–183
Perry RH, Blessed G, Perry EK, Tomlinson BE (1980) Histochemical observations on cholinesterase activities in the brains of elderly normal and demented (Alzheimer-type) patients. Age Ageing 9: 9–16
Perry EK, Oakley AE, Candy JM, Perry RH (1981) Properties and possible significance of substance P and insulin fibrils. Neurosci Lett 25: 321–325
Perry RH, Candy JM, Perry EK, Irving D, Blessed G, Fairbairn AF, Tomlinson BE (1982) Extensive loss of choline acetyltransferase activity is not reflected by neuronal loss in the nucleus of Meynert in Alzheimer’s disease. Neurosci Lett 33: 311–315
Perry RH, Candy JM, Perry EK (1983a) Some observations and speculations concerning the cholinergic system and neuropeptides in Alzheimer’s disease. In: Katzman R (ed) Banbury Report 15: Biological Aspects of Alzheimer’s Disease. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, pp 351–361
Perry RH, Tomlinson BE, Candy JM, Blessed G, Foster JF, Bloxham CA, Perry EK (1983b) Cortical cholinergic deficit in mentally impaired Parkinsonian patients. Lancet 11: 789–790
Perry EK, Curtis M, Dick DJ, Candy JM, Atack JR, Bloxham CA, Blessed G, Fairbairn A, Tomlinson BE, Perry RH (1985) Cholinergic correlates of cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease: comparisons with Alzheimer’s disease. J Neurol: Neurosurg Psychiatry 48: 413–421
Petit TL, Biederman GB, McMullen PA (1980) Neurofibrillary degeneration, dendritic dying back and learning memory deficits after aluminium administration: implications for brain aging. Exp Neurol 67: 152–162
Prusiner SB (1982) Novel proteinaceous infectious particles cause scrapie. Science 216: 136–144
Prusiner SB (1984) Some speculations about prions, amyloid and Alzheimer’s disease. N Eng J Med 310: 661–663
Rossor MN, Emson PC, Iversen LL, Mountjoy CR, Roth M (1984) Patterns of neuropeptide deficits in Alzheimer’s disease. In: Wurtman RJ, Corkin SH, Growdon JH (eds) Alzheimer’s disease: advances in basic research and therapies: proceedings of the 3rd meeting of the International Study Group on the Treatment of Memory Disorders Associated with Aging. Zurich, Switzerland, pp 29–37
Rudelli RD, Ambler MW, Wisniewski HM (1984) Morphology and distribution of Alzheimer neuritic (senile) and amyloid plaques in striatum and diencephalon. Acta Neuropathol 64: 273–281
Rushton C (1978) Vitamin D hydroxylation in youth and old age. Age Ageing 7: 91–95
Siegel N, Haug A (1983) Aluminium interaction with calmodulin. Evidence for altered structure and function from optical and enzymatic studies. Biochim Biophys Acta 744: 36–45
Tomlinson BE (1982) Plaques, tangles and Alzheimer’s disease. Psychol Med 12: 449–459
Tomlinson BE, Blessed G, Roth M (1968) Observations on the brains of nondemented old people. J Neurol Sci 7: 331–356
Westermark P, Grimelius L, Polak JM, Larsson L-I, Van Noarden S, Wilander E, Pearse AGE (1977) Amyloid in polypeptide hormone-producing tumours. Lab Invest 37: 212–215
Wiske PS, Epstein S, Bell NH, Queener SF, Edmondson J, Johnston CC (1979) Increase in immunoreactive parathyroid hormone with age. N Eng J Med 300: 1419–1421
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1985 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Candy, J.M., Edwardson, J.A., Klinowski, J., Oakley, A.E., Perry, E.K., Perry, R.H. (1985). Co-Localization of Aluminium and Silicon in Senile Plaques: Implications for the Neurochemical Pathology of Alzheimer’s Disease. In: Traber, J., Gispen, W.H. (eds) Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type. Advances in Applied Neurological Sciences, vol 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70644-8_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-70644-8_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-70646-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-70644-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive