Table 1.
Age, gender and disease severity of the groups
| Parameter | Controls | DLB | AD | VaD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic details | ||||
| N | 12 | 31 | 19 | 20 |
| Age (±SD) | 75.6 ± 7.8 | 79.1 ± 5.7 | 85.5 ± 5.5 | 81.0 ± 8.5 |
| Age range (years) | 61–92 | 64–89 | 75–96 | 67–93 |
| Gender (M/F) | 6/6 | 14/17 | 7/12 | 10/10 |
| Pathological features | ||||
| Mean Braak stage | 1.0 ± 1.0 | 2.3 ± 1.0 | 4.9 ± 0.8 | 1.3 ± 0.7 |
| Neuritic plaque densitya (per mm2) | 2 ± 1 | 21 ± 3 | 27 ± 4 | 7 ± 2 |
| Lewy body pathology (ubiquitin score) | <1 | 7.2 ± 2.6 | <1 | <1 |
| Lewy body pathology (α-synuclein score) | <1 | 12.5 ± 5.0 | <1 | <1 |
| Number of vascular lesions (range) | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 3–15 |
| Degree of CAA (range) | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–4 | 0–4 |
| Frontal myelin index* | 51.1 ± 9.5 | 41.5 ± 8.5 | 35.9 ± 11.1 | 26.5 ± 9.0 |
| Temporal myelin index | 37.3 ± 10.1 | 32.7 ± 13.4 | 35.2 ± 11.0 | 34.4 ± 11.9 |
Unless otherwise stated numbers show mean values with standard deviation (±SD). AD subjects were significantly older than controls and DLB (P < 0.01). Selected cases stained for amyloid β protein immunoreactivity also showed the severity of neuritic plaque burden in AD and DLB was comparable to the phases 4 and 5 staging described by Thal et al. [46] and the BrainNet Europe Consortium [3]. The presence of Lewy body pathology was determined by ubiquitin and α-synuclein immunostaining [35]. The number of vascular lesions and degree of CAA were recorded according to the Vonsattal grading as previously described [28, 40]
* Significant difference (P < 0.05) between any two groups
aNeuritic plaque densities were comparable to the CERAD ratings in that moderate to severe scores were evident in 95% of AD and 74% of DLB cases