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Subtypes and differential laminar distributions of βA4 deposits in Alzheimer's disease: relationship with the intellectual status of 26 cases

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Summary

βA4 immunoreactivity was studied in temporal neocortex, area 22, of 26 cases with graded intellectual status. Sampling was performed in psychometrically assessed women over 75 years, either intellectually normal or affected by senile dementia of Alzheimer type of various degrees of severity. βA4 antibodies labelled various types of βA4 deposits in 22/26 cases: (1) small, stellate deposits; (2) diffuse deposits, (3) primitive, (4) classic and (5) compact, or burn-out, plaques. The densities of the stellate deposits, primitive and classic plaques were always positively linked with the severity of the intellectual status, whereas those of the diffuse deposits were not. This was due to a single case with normal mental status and numerous βA4 deposits. Densities of stellate and diffuse deposits were higher in layers I, III and IV, whereas densities of primitive, classic, and neuritic plaques observed with Bodian's technique were higher in layers II and III. Topographical distribution of each subtype did not vary as a function of the severity of the intellectual status. These data suggest that deposits of βA4 protein appear a necessary but not a sufficient condition for inducing neuritic plaque formation, in the neocortex as in other brain areas. βA4 proteins could accumulate either as diffuse deposits, which do not cause an intellectual deficit, or as dense deposits, associated with argyrophilic neurites, i.e., classic neuritic plaques, highly correlated to the intellectual impairment. This evolution could depend on factors which are laminarily distributed in the neocortex.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Neuropathologie R. Escourolle, Hôpital de la Salpêtrière, 47 Blvd de l'Hôpital, F-75651, Paris Cedex, France

    P. Delaère, C. Duyckaerts, Y. He & J. J. Hauw

  2. Service de Gériatrie, Hôpital Charles Foix, Ivry-sur-Seine, France

    F. Piette

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  1. P. Delaère
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  2. C. Duyckaerts
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  3. Y. He
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  4. F. Piette
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  5. J. J. Hauw
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Supported by a Grant ST 2000297 from the Commission of European Community to P.D.

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Delaère, P., Duyckaerts, C., He, Y. et al. Subtypes and differential laminar distributions of βA4 deposits in Alzheimer's disease: relationship with the intellectual status of 26 cases. Acta Neuropathol 81, 328–335 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00305876

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00305876

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