Alzheimer's disease and ageing: a chromosomal approach.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia in elderly people. Interrelations between AD and senescence have been the subject of many studies. Some researchers have suggested that chromosomal alterations may be involved in the etiology or pathogenesis of AD. We present cytogenetic findings in patients with Alzheimer's disease, normal elderly controls and young controls. Aneuploidy, premature centromere division, polyploidy and C-anaphase, were analysed and the results suggest that the cytogenetic alterations observed are inherent to the cellular ageing process and not specifically related to Alzheimer's disease.