Gerry Fischbach on Expression of CD43 in human microglia and its downregulation in Alzheimer's disease.

COMMENT Significance of their finding is totally unclear.. 0 gf224

Paul Coleman on Accumulation of SNAP-25 immunoreactive material in axons of Alzheimer's disease.

COMMENT Assessment of the status of transport in AD is vitally important, and examination by SNAP-25 IHC is appropriate. However, the abstract suggests that the results obtained by these authors is limited to swollen axons. 0 Paul_Coleman

Paul Coleman on A population study on blood-brain barrier function in 85-year-olds: relation to Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.

COMMENT The evidence supporting a BBB dysfunction in elderly demented patents in this paper adds further weight to a (uncertain) role of the BBB in AD and other pathologies. 0 Paul_Coleman

John Hardy on Beta-amyloid precursor protein, ETS-2 and collagen alpha 1 (VI) chain precursor, encoded on chromosome 21, are not overexpressed in fetal Down syndrome: further evidence against gene dosage effect.

COMMENT however, DS individuals without three copies of the APP locus do not appear to get AD (Ann Neurol. 1998 Mar;43(3):380-3) 0 J.Hardy

Hiroshi Mori on Increased frequency of the alpha-1-antichymotrypsin T allele in cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

COMMENT CAA is also one of the pathological hallmarks for AD, but its etiological explanation still remains unclear. This paper shows ACT allelic difference in angiopathy deposition and [provides further support for the theory that ACT plays a role in dementia pa

Paul Coleman on Short-term administration of selegiline for mild-to-moderate dementia of the Alzheimer's type.

COMMENT The abstract tells us that there was no drug-plecebo difference in any outcome measure, as had been seen in an earlier study 'perhaps because the patients were studied less intensively'. 0 Paul_Coleman

Paul Coleman on Quantification of cholinergic and select non-cholinergic mesopontine neuronal populations in the human brain.

COMMENT The abstract does not make it clear whether this cell counting study used unbiased stereological methods. 0 Paul_Coleman

Paul Coleman on Elevation of cerebral proteases after systemic administration of aluminum.

COMMENT The abstract contains no information concerning the amount of aluminum administered nor its relation to physiological levels. 0 Paul_Coleman

Elliott Mufson on Aberrant expression of mitotic cdc2/cyclin B1 kinase in degenerating neurons of Alzheimer's disease brain.

COMMENT Interesting. 0 emufson

Benjamin Wolozin on Spontaneous hemorrhagic stroke in a mouse model of cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

COMMENT This is an important article because it validates the relationship between CAA and hemorrhage, which was one of the earliest APP related mutations associated with dementia. 0 bwolozin

Hiroshi Mori on Amyloid angiopathy in a Volga German family with Alzheimer's disease and a presenilin-2 mutation (N141I).

COMMENT There are few papers to show neuropathology of brains with familial AD bearing PS-2 but not PS-1 mutation. This report is important and more than welcome to understand pathogenesis of volga german family. 0 mori

Hiroshi Mori on Intracellular processing of aggregated tau differs between corticobasal degeneration and progressive supranuclear palsy.

COMMENT CBD and PSP are sporadic tauopathies to show similar inclusions. This paper may be the first paper to explain a difference in their clinical symptoms on the neuropathological evidence. 0 mori

John Olney on Transcription factor NF-kappaB: friend or foe of neurons?

COMMENT Lezoualc'h and Behl have writtern a thoughtful review article pertaining to the role of NF-kappa B as a t ranscription factor that may activate defensive genes that may influence cell degeneration and death processes. The jury is still out regarding

Hiroshi Mori on Variabilities in the distribution of neurofibrillary tangles in the anterior parahippocampal gyrus at initial stages of Alzheimer's disease.

COMMENT The distribution and variability of neurofibrillary tangles is one of the crucial neuropathological changes in AD brain. Such study provides us the basic and solid basis in understanding the etiology of the disease. 0 mori

Nikolaos K. Robakis on Accumulation of SNAP-25 immunoreactive material in axons of Alzheimer's disease.

COMMENT The thesis of this paper on the role of synaptic markers as correlates of dementia is provocative. But axoplasmic transfer of SNAP-25 may not be the best marker for AD dementia and its transport may be irrelevant to AD pathology. 0 nikos.robakis