[Abstract Title]. - Society for Neuroscience

Program#/Poster#: 245.22/P4
Topic: C.01.j. Cognitive function
Support: Abercrombie Foundation and the Kleberg Foundation
NIA 1P30AG028383
NIH AG05146
NIA K04AG00553
NIA R01AG09862
Title: Hypertrophy of CA1-hippocampal neurons in asymptomatic AD: findings from the nun
study
Authors: *J. C. TRONCOSO 1 , D. SNOWDON 3 , W. R. MARKESBERY 3 , O. PLETNIKOVA 1 ,
G. RUDOW 1 , E. PATEL 3 , D. TUDOR 3 , P. ZANDI 2 , D. IACONO 1 ;
1 Neuropathol Lab., 2 Mental Hlth., Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD; 3 Neurol. and Sanders-
Brown Ctr. on Aging, Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
Abstract: Objectives. The pathology of Alzheimer‟s disease (AD) evolves decades before the
disease becomes clinically manifest. Consequently, it is common to find substantial Aβ-plaques
(NP) and neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) in the autopsy brains of older subjects with normal
cognition, a state we term asymptomatic AD (ASYMAD). Since the CA1 region of the
hippocampus is highly vulnerable to AD, here we examine whether CA1 neurons undergo
morphometric changes of their cell bodies, nuclei, and nucleoli in ASYMAD subjects.
Material and Methods. We examined the autopsy brains of subjects with AD pathology and no
cognitive deficits (ASYMAD) (n=10) and compared them to age-matched controls (n=13), mild
cognitive impairment (MCI) patients with autopsy-confirmed AD pathology (n=5) and AD
patients (n=10) from the Nun Study. All subjects underwent neuropsychological evaluations
within a year before death. We used the nucleator, a stereological probe, to measure the volumes
of neuronal cell bodies, nuclei, and nucleoli in CA1.
Results. We found a significant hypertrophy of the neuronal cell bodies, nuclei, and nucleoli in
CA1 of ASYMAD subjects compared to both controls (p