Neurosurgery Center for Research, Training and Education, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA, USA.
J Alzheimers Dis. 2011;24(1):137-49. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2010-101503.
Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a vascular lesion associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) present in up to 95% of AD patients and produces MRI-detectable microbleeds in many of these patients. It is possible that CAA-related microbleeding is a source of pathological iron in the AD brain. Because the homeostasis of copper, iron, and zinc are so intimately linked, we determined whether CAA contributes to changes in the brain levels of these metals. We obtained brain tissue from AD patients with severe CAA to compare to AD patients without evidence of vascular amyloid-β. Patients with severe CAA had significantly higher non-heme iron levels. Histologically, iron was deposited in the walls of large CAA-affected vessels. Zinc levels were significantly elevated in grey matter in both the CAA and non-CAA AD tissue, but no vascular staining was noted in CAA cases. Copper levels were decreased in both CAA and non-CAA AD tissues and copper was found to be prominently deposited on the vasculature in CAA. Together, these findings demonstrate that CAA is a significant variable affecting transition metals in AD.
脑淀粉样血管病（Cerebral amyloid angiopathy，CAA）是一种与阿尔茨海默病（Alzheimer's disease，AD）相关的血管病变，存在于高达 95%的 AD 患者中，并在这些患者中的许多人身上产生 MRI 可检测到的微出血。CAA 相关的微出血可能是 AD 大脑中病理性铁的来源。由于铜、铁和锌的体内平衡密切相关，我们确定 CAA 是否会导致这些金属在大脑中的水平发生变化。我们从患有严重 CAA 的 AD 患者中获得脑组织，以与无血管淀粉样蛋白-β证据的 AD 患者进行比较。患有严重 CAA 的患者非血红素铁水平明显升高。组织学上，铁沉积在大的 CAA 受累血管壁中。锌水平在 CAA 和非 CAA AD 组织的灰质中均显著升高，但在 CAA 病例中未观察到血管染色。CAA 和非 CAA AD 组织中的铜水平均降低，并且在 CAA 中发现铜明显沉积在血管上。总之，这些发现表明 CAA 是影响 AD 中过渡金属的重要变量。
