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Alzheimer's disease as a capillary dementia
A B Scheibel1, T H Duong, R Jacobs
1Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, UCLA Medical Center 90024-1763.
Annals of Medicine
|January 1, 1989
Summary
Alzheimer's disease involves significant changes in cerebral cortex blood vessels, including thickening and loss of neural support. These vascular alterations may stem from subcortical neuronal damage, potentially impacting the blood-brain barrier.
Area of Science:
- Neuropathology
- Neuroscience
- Vascular Biology
Background:
- Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by known structural brain changes.
- Less recognized are robust alterations in the fine cerebral vasculature of AD patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neuropathological changes in cerebral microvessels in Alzheimer's disease.
- To explore the potential link between subcortical neuronal pathology and cerebrovascular alterations in AD.
Main Methods:
- Microscopic examination of cerebral cortical fine vessels (capillaries, arterioles, venules) from Alzheimer's disease patients.
- Comparison with age-matched, non-demented control subjects.
Main Results:
- Observed vascular changes in AD patients included irregular vessel shapes, basement membrane thickening, loss of perivascular neural plexus, and vessel wall lacunae.
- These specific vascular alterations were absent in control subjects.
- The affected perivascular neural plexus originates from subcortical areas (locus ceruleus, nucleus basalis of Meynert) known to undergo atrophy in AD.
Conclusions:
- Neuronal pathology in specific subcortical areas may significantly contribute to the neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease.
- These findings suggest a potential role for a compromised blood-brain barrier in the pathogenesis of AD.