Reduction of platelet phospholipase C activity in patients with Alzheimer disease

Phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase C (PLC) is a key enzyme in signal transduction. We have previously demonstrated that a PLC isozyme is abnormally accumulated in the brain tissue in Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD has been suggested to be a systemic disease in which the expression of abnormalities is most prominent in neuronal tissues. In a recent study, we have revealed the increase of the cytosolic protein kinase C (PKC) concentration in platelets of AD patients, suggesting the change of PLC, which is upstream to PKC in phosphoinositide metabolism. In this study, we examined phosphatidylinositol-specific PLC activity in platelets from patients with AD and age-matched controls by measuring the formation of radioactive inositol phosphate. The PLC activity was significantly lower in the AD platelets than in the controls. These findings suggest that aberrant phosphoinositide metabolism is present in nonneuronal tissues as well as the brain in AD.