Relationship between pigment accumulation and age in Alzheimer's disease and Down syndrome.

The amount of lipofuscin pigment within nerve cells of the nucleus basalis of Meynert and that of melanin pigment with nerve cells of locus ceruleus was measured in seven patients with Down syndrome, in 22 patients with Alzheimer's disease and in 18 controls ranging from 30 to 88 years of age. No significant differences in amount of either pigment in these cells at any age were noted between the patient groups and their age controls.