Resting [Ca2+]i and [Ca2+]i transients are similar in fibroblasts from normal and Alzheimer's donors.

Previous studies have reported that resting concentrations of intracellular calcium ion were markedly reduced in cultured dermal fibroblasts from Alzheimer's disease patients and that the ability of these cells to respond to serum stimulation was also decreased as compared to both young and age-matched control cells. In this study we have carefully reexamined these parameters in several of the same lines of fibroblasts and fail to find major differences in resting cytosolic calcium [Ca2+]i, in the response of [Ca2+]i to serum stimulation or in cell spreading in the AD cells as compared to young controls. The present findings suggest that cytoplasmic ionic calcium levels are neither pathognomonic for Alzheimer's cells nor of diagnostic value.