Paskavitz J F, Lippa C F, Hamos J E, Pulaski-Salo D, Drachman D A
Department of Neurology, Pathology (Neuropathology), University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester 01655, USA.
J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 1995 Jan;8(1):32-7.
It is not known whether changes in the thalamus play a role in the memory loss or dementia of Alzheimer's disease (AD), although trauma, infarction, and hemorrhage to the thalamus, particularly the dorsomedial nucleus (DMN), can cause these cognitive changes. To determine the pathologic changes in the DMN in AD, we examined the DMN in 16 cases of AD and 7 age-matched controls, with quantitative assessments of the total neuronal population and synaptic density, Alz-50-positive neurons, neurofibrillary tangles (NFT), and senile plaques (SP). We examined sections after staining with cresyl violet, a silver stain, and immunocytochemical staining for Alz-50 and synapsin I. Stereologic analysis demonstrated a mean loss of 29% of DMN neurons in AD and a synaptic density decrease of 21%. Alz-50 staining and NFT were present in all AD cases but in none of the controls. Senile plaques were 52 times more frequent in the DMN in AD than in the age-matched controls. The large variation in pathologic changes among our AD cases suggests that neuronal losses and other pathology in the DMN in AD may contribute to the total brain burden of pathology resulting in dementia in some AD patients, but not in others.
目前尚不清楚丘脑的变化是否在阿尔茨海默病（AD）的记忆丧失或痴呆中起作用，尽管丘脑，特别是背内侧核（DMN）受到创伤、梗死和出血会导致这些认知变化。为了确定AD患者DMN的病理变化，我们检查了16例AD患者和7例年龄匹配的对照者的DMN，对神经元总数、突触密度、Alz - 50阳性神经元、神经原纤维缠结（NFT）和老年斑（SP）进行了定量评估。我们用甲酚紫、银染以及针对Alz - 50和突触素I的免疫细胞化学染色对切片进行了检查。体视学分析显示，AD患者DMN神经元平均损失29%，突触密度降低21%。所有AD病例中均存在Alz - 50染色和NFT，但对照者中均未出现。AD患者DMN中的老年斑比年龄匹配的对照者多52倍。我们的AD病例中病理变化的巨大差异表明，AD患者DMN中的神经元损失和其他病理变化可能会导致部分AD患者出现痴呆的全脑病理负担加重，但并非所有患者都是如此。
