The distribution of amyloid plaques in the cerebellum and brain stem in Down's syndrome and Alzheimer's disease: a light microscopical analysis

Abstract

The distribution and severity of the neuropathological changes in 57 cases of Alzheimer's disease, and 11 patients with Down's syndrome were investigated with reference to the cerebellum. A modified silver stain and a monoclonal antibody raised against amyloid beta-protein were used to identify amyloid plaques. The highest incidence of amyloid plaques in the cerebellum (93%) was found in the group of patients who developed dementia before 65 years of age. This figure dropped to 56% in those patients with dementia beginning after 75 years. In 37 of these cases the distribution of the pathological changes of the disease were also examined in the brain stem. The severity of the pathological changes in the cerebellum corresponded to the involvement of the brain stem nuclei with connections to the cerebellar cortex. The possibility that the disease process spreads to the cerebellum by involving the fibres from the brain stem is discussed with reference to previous anatomical and neurochemical studies.

Cerebellar Amyloid-β Plaques: How Frequent Are They, and Do They Influence 18F-Florbetaben SUV Ratios?

“…The amount of diffuse Ab plaques and neuritic plaques detected in the cerebellum in our study is fully in keeping with earlier descriptions (13,15,19): although sparse neuritic plaques as determined by Bielschowsky silver staining were identified only in a single case, diffuse Ab plaques in varying amounts were identified in 39 cases (47%). Since the number of Ab deposits in most of these cases did not meet the criteria to be scored as moderate, Ab pathology was overall rated as absent, and only 6% (n 5 5) of cases had moderate quantities of Ab pathology, which was rated as present according to the agreed criteria for this study.…”

“…Cerebellar amyloid plaques were detected in "familial organic psychosis (Alzheimer type)" as early as 1934 (12), and the existence of diffuse Ab plaques in the cerebellum has been noted with the introduction and increasingly widespread use of Ab immunohistochemistry (13)(14)(15). The presence of cerebellar Ab deposits has been reported especially-but not exclusively-in familial forms of AD, such as in patients with APP and PSEN1 mutations (16,17), in severe early-onset cases of AD (15), and in the late stages of sporadic AD.…”

‘O’ blood type is associated with larger grey-matter volumes in the cerebellum

“…Nonetheless, the presence of Alzheimer's pathology within the entire cerebellar complex is common amongst those showing an early disease onset (Cole et al, 1993). Although no concrete evidence has yet been found in support of an association between ABO blood type, neural development, and neural protection, a recent histological study found that in 'A' blood type the expression of the ABO antigens is modulated at the level of the brain vascular endothelium (Wang et al, 2013).…”

Insulin Resistance, Cognitive Impairment and Neurodegeneration: Roles of Nitrosamine Exposure, Diet and Lifestyles

“…Cerebellar granule neurons are a suitable model because the cells are non-transformed, they can be efficiently transfected with non-viral vectors, and they are highly dependent upon insulin and IGF signaling for function. In addition, the cerebellar cortex is a target of neurodegeneration in various diseases including, AD (Cole, Neal et al 1993;Ishii, Sasaki et al 1997;Larner 1997;Wegiel, Wisniewski et al 1999). Gaithersburg, MD).…”