Joynt R J, McNeill T H
Peptides. 1984;5 Suppl 1:269-74. doi: 10.1016/0196-9781(84)90286-9.
Although senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type (SDAT) is a common disease associated with advancing age, recent studies have suggested that SDAT should not be considered synonymous with old age but a disease process separate from normal aging. This study examined the morphology of two neurochemically-defined neuronal populations (i.e., neurophysin, somatostatin) in the cortex and hypothalamus to determine if structural changes in these neuropeptide systems associated with advancing age are similar to those seen with SDAT. Our findings suggest that morphological changes consistent with neuronal degeneration occur in somatostatin but not neurophysin-containing neurons in cases diagnosed to have SDAT, and these structural changes are different from those seen in aged brain without central nervous system disease. These data support the concept that senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type is not a single neurochemical related disease, but may be associated with anatomical lesions and biochemical imbalances among a number of neuropeptide and neurotransmitter systems.
尽管阿尔茨海默型老年痴呆症（SDAT）是一种与年龄增长相关的常见疾病，但最近的研究表明，SDAT不应被视为与老年同义，而是一个与正常衰老不同的疾病过程。本研究检查了皮质和下丘脑中两个神经化学定义的神经元群体（即神经垂体素、生长抑素）的形态，以确定这些与年龄增长相关的神经肽系统的结构变化是否与SDAT中所见的相似。我们的研究结果表明，在被诊断患有SDAT的病例中，生长抑素神经元而非含神经垂体素的神经元出现了与神经元变性一致的形态变化，并且这些结构变化与无中枢神经系统疾病的老年大脑中所见的不同。这些数据支持了这样一种概念，即阿尔茨海默型老年痴呆症不是一种单一的神经化学相关疾病，而是可能与多种神经肽和神经递质系统之间的解剖学病变和生化失衡有关。
