Brain choline acetyltransferase activity and neuropeptide Y concentrations in Alzheimer's disease

Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity and neuropeptide Y (NPY) levels in post-mortem tissues from patients with histologically proven Alzheimer's disease were compared with age-matched neurologically normal control individuals. Despite the high NPY concentrations in human cerebral cortex, no significant abnormalities were found. However, ChAT activity was reduced throughout the cortex, without a relationship to areas of functional deficit, as previously identified using fluorodeoxyglucose. These results lend further support to the concept of Alzheimer's disease as a highly selective neurodegenerative disorder.