Gain in brain immunity in the oldest-old differentiates cognitively normal from demented individuals.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Recent findings suggest that Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathological features (neuritic plaques and NFTs) are not strongly associated with dementia in extreme old (over 90 years of age) and compel a search for neurobiological indices of dementia in this rapidly growing segment of the elderly population. We sought to characterize transcriptional and protein profiles of dementia in the oldest-old.

Methods and findings

Gene and protein expression changes relative to non-demented age-matched controls were assessed by two microarray platforms, qPCR and Western blot in different regions of the brains of oldest-old and younger old persons who died at mild or severe stages of dementia. Our results indicate that: i) consistent with recent neuropathological findings, gen

SUBMITTER: Katsel P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2764344 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature