Perry E K, Tomlinson B E, Blessed G, Perry R H, Cross A J, Crow T J
J Neurol Sci. 1981 Aug;51(2):279-87. doi: 10.1016/0022-510x(81)90106-4.
Abnormalities of the noradrenergic system in Alzheimer's disease have been investigated by comparing quantitative histological and biochemical components of this transmitter system (locus coeruleus neuron counts and cortical dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) activity, respectively) in a series of demented and non-demented cases. Cortical activities of the noradrenergic enzyme, DBH, did not correlate significantly with the number of locus coeruleus neurons, a finding which contrasts with the previous observations in animal brains of reductions in cortical DBH following locus coeruleus lesions. The extent of Alzheimer-type abnormalities, assessed from either morphological measures (mean plaque counts) or clinical measures (Mental Test Scores) of severity, was not significantly related to the cortical activity of DBH in the present series of cases, although non-significant trends were apparent. In contrast the activity of the cholinergic enzyme choline acetyltransferase did, as previously reported, correlate significantly with the extent of Alzheimer-type abnormalities, suggesting that abnormalities of the cholinergic system are more closely associated with specific aspects of the Alzheimer disease process than those of the noradrenergic system.
通过比较一系列痴呆和非痴呆病例中该递质系统的定量组织学和生化成分（分别为蓝斑神经元计数和皮质多巴胺β-羟化酶（DBH）活性），对阿尔茨海默病中去甲肾上腺素能系统的异常进行了研究。去甲肾上腺素能酶DBH的皮质活性与蓝斑神经元数量无显著相关性，这一发现与之前在动物脑中观察到的蓝斑损伤后皮质DBH降低的情况形成对比。在本系列病例中，从形态学指标（平均斑块计数）或临床指标（精神测试评分）评估的阿尔茨海默病型异常程度与DBH的皮质活性无显著相关性，尽管有不显著的趋势。相比之下，正如之前报道的，胆碱能酶胆碱乙酰转移酶的活性与阿尔茨海默病型异常程度显著相关，这表明胆碱能系统的异常比去甲肾上腺素能系统的异常更紧密地与阿尔茨海默病进程的特定方面相关。
