Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.) logoLink to British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.)
. 1981 Jan 10;282(6258):93–94. doi: 10.1136/bmj.282.6258.93

Reduced dopamine-beta-hydroxylase activity in Alzheimer's disease

Alan J Cross, Timothy J Crow, Elaine K Perry, Robert H Perry, Garry Blessed, Bernard E Tomlinson
PMCID: PMC1503892  PMID: 6779929

Abstract

The activity of the noradrenergic marker enzyme dopamine-beta-hydroxylase was measured in brains removed postmortem from control patients and patients with Alzheimer's disease. Enzyme activity was decreased in the frontal and temporal cortices and hippocampus in patients with Alzheimer's disease, but was within the normal range in patients with depression, multiinfarct dementia, and terminal coma.

The decrease in enzyme activity in Alzheimer's disease may reflect an abnormality of cortical noradrenergic fibres in some patients with the disease.

Full text

PDF
93

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adolfsson R., Gottfries C. G., Roos B. E., Winblad B. Changes in the brain catecholamines in patients with dementia of Alzheimer type. Br J Psychiatry. 1979 Sep;135:216–223. doi: 10.1192/bjp.135.3.216. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Anlezark G. M., Crow T. J., Greenway A. P. Impaired learning and decreased cortical norepinephrine after bilateral locus coeruleus lesions. Science. 1973 Aug 17;181(4100):682–684. doi: 10.1126/science.181.4100.682. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Berger B., Escourolle R., Moyne M. A. Axones catécholaminergiques du cortex cérébral humain. Observation, en histofluorescence, de biopsies cérébrales dont 2 cas de maladie d'Alzheimer. Rev Neurol (Paris) 1976 Mar;132(3):183–194. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bowen D. M., White P., Spillane J. A., Goodhardt M. J., Curzon G., Iwangoff P., Meier-Ruge W., Davison A. N. Accelerated ageing or selective neuronal loss as an important cause of dementia? Lancet. 1979 Jan 6;1(8106):11–14. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(79)90454-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Crapper D. R., Krishnan S. S., Dalton A. J. Brain aluminum distribution in Alzheimer's disease and experimental neurofibrillary degeneration. Science. 1973 May 4;180(4085):511–513. doi: 10.1126/science.180.4085.511. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cross A. J., Crow T. J., Killpack W. S., Longden A., Owen F., Riley G. J. The activities of brain dopamine-beta-hydroxylase and catechol-O-methyl transferase in schizophrenics and controls. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1978 Oct 31;59(2):117–121. doi: 10.1007/BF00427744. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Davies P., Maloney A. J. Selective loss of central cholinergic neurons in Alzheimer's disease. Lancet. 1976 Dec 25;2(8000):1403–1403. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(76)91936-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Mackay A. V., Davies P., Dewar A. J., Yates C. M. Regional distribution of enzymes associated with neurotransmission by monoamines, acetylcholine and GABA in the human brain. J Neurochem. 1978 Apr;30(4):827–839. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1978.tb10791.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. McEntee W. J., Mair R. G. Memory impairment in Korsakoff's psychosis: a correlation with brain noradrenergic activity. Science. 1978 Nov 24;202(4370):905–907. doi: 10.1126/science.715450. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Molinoff P. B., Weinshilboum R., Axelrod J. A sensitive enzymatic assay for dopamine- -hydroxylase. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1971 Sep;178(3):425–431. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Perry E. K., Gibson P. H., Blessed G., Perry R. H., Tomlinson B. E. Neurotransmitter enzyme abnormalities in senile dementia. Choline acetyltransferase and glutamic acid decarboxylase activities in necropsy brain tissue. J Neurol Sci. 1977 Nov;34(2):247–265. doi: 10.1016/0022-510x(77)90073-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Spillane J. A., White P., Goodhardt W. J., Flack R. H., Bowen D. M., Davison A. N. Selective vulnerability of neurones in organic dementia. Nature. 1977 Apr 7;266(5602):558–559. doi: 10.1038/266558a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Tomlinson B. E., Blessed G., Roth M. Observations on the brains of demented old people. J Neurol Sci. 1970 Sep;11(3):205–242. doi: 10.1016/0022-510x(70)90063-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Trapp G. A., Miner G. D., Zimmerman R. L., Mastri A. R., Heston L. L. Aluminum levels in brain in Alzheimer's disease. Biol Psychiatry. 1978 Dec;13(6):709–718. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Yu P. H., Boulton A. A., Wu P. H. Some observations on the interaction of dopamine-beta-hydroxylase and its natural inhibitors in the rat brain. Can J Biochem. 1976 Nov;54(11):988–991. doi: 10.1139/o76-142. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal (Clinical research ed.) are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES