Dendritic and spinal pathology of the Purkinje cells from the human cerebellar vermis in Alzheimer's disease

BACKGROUND

Alzheimer's disease constitutes one of the main causes of dementia. It is clinically characterized by memory impairment, deterioration of intellectual faculties and loss of professional skills. Furthermore changes in equilibrium and limb coordination are clinically demonstrable in persons with Alzheimer's disease. In the present study we tried to figure out possible changes of the Purkinje cells in Alzheimer's disease brains.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

We studied the Purkinje cells from the vermis of the cerebellum in 5 Alzheimer' disease brains Golgi technique.

RESULTS

In the Purkinje cells from the inferior surface of the cerebellar hemispheres severe dendritic and spinal pathology consisting of loss of distal dendritic segments and alterations of dendritic spine morphology can be noticed in Alzheimer's disease brains.

CONCLUSIONS

The morphological and morphometric estimation of the dendrites and the dendritic spines of the Purkinje cells from the inferior surface of the cerebellar hemispheres in Alzheimer's disease brains revealed substantial alterations of the dendritic arborization and marked loss of the dendritic spines, which may be related to cognitive impairment and motor deficits in Alzheimer's disease.

Morphological changes of the human purkinje cells and deposition of neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles on the cerebellar cortex of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by progressive decline in memory and in social performance. The morphological hallmarks of the disease are neuronal loss, loss of dendritic spines, neurofibrillary degeneration and neuritic plaques mainly in the hippocampus and the cortex of the cerebral hemispheres. This study is based on the morphological analysis of the cerebellar cortices of eight brains, 4 patients suffered from Alzheimer's disease and 4 normal controls, by Golgi method, as well as Nissl, Gallyas', Bielschowsky's, Methenamine Silver staining and Congo red methods. Although typical neuritic plaques were not seen in the cerebellar cortex and the diffuse plaques found in the cerebellum in far smaller proportion than plaques in the prefrontal and parietal cortices of the same cases, Golgi impregnation technique revealed a loss of Purkinje cells and a marked decrease in the density of dendritic arborization.