Neuropathology and applied neurobiology
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Neuropathol. Appl. Neurobiol. · Aug 2013
The relationship between cerebral amyloid angiopathy and cortical microinfarcts in brain ageing and Alzheimer's disease.
Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) represents the deposition of amyloid β protein (Aβ) in the meningeal and intracerebral vessels. It is often observed as an accompanying lesion of Alzheimer's disease (AD) or in the brain of elderly individuals even in the absence of dementia. CAA is largely age-dependent. In subjects with severe CAA a higher frequency of vascular lesions has been reported. The goal of our study was to define the frequency and distribution of CAA in a 1-year autopsy population (91 cases) from the Department of Internal Medicine, Rehabilitation, and Geriatrics, Geneva. ⋯ The present data show that CAA plays a role in the development of microvascular lesions in the ageing brain, but cannot be considered as the most important factor in this vascular pathology, suggesting that other mechanisms also contribute importantly to the pathogenesis of microvascular changes.
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Neuropathol. Appl. Neurobiol. · Aug 2013
Recruitment of neural precursor cells from circumventricular organs of patients with cerebral ischaemia.
Adult neurogenesis is well described in the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle walls and in the subgranular zone of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. However, recent studies indicate that self-renewal of neural stem cells (NSCs) is not restricted to these niches, but that diverse areas of the adult brain are capable of generating new neurones and responding to various pathological alterations. In particular, NSCs have been identified in circumventricular organs (CVOs) of the adult mouse brain. ⋯ Our findings are compatible with a scenario where CVOs may serve as a further source of NSCs in the adult human brain and may contribute to neurogenesis and brain plasticity in the context of brain injury.