Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer disease. Is apoptosis involved?

Alzheimer disease (AD), the most common dementia of the elderly, results from a significant loss of neuronal cells in brain regions important in memory and cognition. Several lines of evidence suggest that the A beta peptide is directly responsible for some of this neuronal cell death. We review recent evidence from in vitro toxicity and immunohistochemical studies that suggest some of the cell loss in AD is the result of apoptosis.