Abstract
Brain regions from patients with or without Alzheimer disease (AD) were obtained within 2 hr of death and examined for indices of presynaptic cholinergic function. Consistent with loss of cholinergic projections, cerebral cortical areas involved in AD exhibited decreased choline acetyltransferase (acetyl-CoA:choline 0-acetyltransferase, EC 2.3.1.6) activity. However, remaining nerve terminals in these regions displayed marked up-regulation of synaptosomal high affinity [3H]choline uptake, a result indicative of relative cholinergic hyperactivity. As choline uptake is also rate-limiting in acetylcholine biosynthesis, these findings have implications for both therapy and identification of causes contributing to neuronal death in AD.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2452-2455 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Volume | 87 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1990 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General