Riekkinen P J, Soininen H, Sirviö J, Reinikainen K, Helkala E L, Paljärvi L
Department of Neurology, University of Kuopio, Finland.
Gerontology. 1987;33(3-4):268-72. doi: 10.1159/000212889.
We examined the role of cholinergic system in multi-infarct dementia (MID) by measuring acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of clinically diagnosed MID patients, Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and controls. In spite of the similar clinical severity of dementia, MID patients had unaltered AChE levels, whereas AD patients had significantly reduced AChE levels in CSF when compared to controls. In the autopsy study we analyzed choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) levels in four cortical brain areas from clinically and neuropathologically studied AD patients, demented non-AD patients and controls. ChAT activities in the cerebral cortex in non-AD patients were on the same level as in controls, but AD patients had a marked loss of ChAT activity in all four cortical brain areas studied. Although cholinergic deficit is a usual phenomenon associated with cognitive failure, severe dementia can exist without cholinergic dysfunction.
我们通过测量临床诊断的多发梗死性痴呆（MID）患者、阿尔茨海默病（AD）患者及对照组脑脊液（CSF）中的乙酰胆碱酯酶（AChE）活性，研究了胆碱能系统在多发梗死性痴呆中的作用。尽管痴呆的临床严重程度相似，但与对照组相比，MID患者的AChE水平未改变，而AD患者脑脊液中的AChE水平显著降低。在尸检研究中，我们分析了临床及神经病理学研究的AD患者、痴呆非AD患者及对照组四个大脑皮质区域的胆碱乙酰转移酶（ChAT）水平。非AD患者大脑皮质中的ChAT活性与对照组处于同一水平，但在所有研究的四个大脑皮质区域中，AD患者的ChAT活性均显著丧失。虽然胆碱能缺陷是与认知功能障碍相关的常见现象，但严重痴呆可在无胆碱能功能障碍的情况下存在。
