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Gene expression in Alzheimer neocortex as a function of age and pathologic severity
Robinson CA, Clark AW, Parhad IM, Fung TS, Bou SS.. Neurobiology of aging, 1994-11-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Previous studies have shown a marked decline in neuronal and an increase in glial gene expression in Alzheimer's disease (AD) neocortex. Severity of pathologic changes may be greater in presenile AD (PAD) than in senile AD (SAD). We evaluated whether changes in transcript expression were altered as a function of age or pathologic severity. Northern analysis revealed a marked (> 50%) decline in expression of transcripts for the neurofilament light subunit and the major amyloid precursor protein (APP) isoforms in both PAD and SAD. Expression of these neuronal transcripts declined as a function of age in AD and control cases. Expression of the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) transcript was increased in AD, particularly in the presenile group. AD cases with larger numbers of neurofibrillary tangles had higher levels of GFAP transcript; AD cases with larger numbers of senile plaques had higher levels of APP695 transcript. We conclude that the neuronal mRNA decrements of AD are superimposed on an age-related decline. Age-related shift in expression of certain genes may account for the differences in pathologic severity of PAD and SAD.
Key findings
- Northern analysis revealed a marked (> 50%) decline in expression of transcripts for the neurofilament light subunit and the major amyloid precursor protein (APP) isoforms in both PAD and SAD.
- We conclude that the neuronal mRNA decrements of AD are superimposed on an age-related decline.
Why it matters
This study found declines in neuronal gene transcripts and increases in GFAP transcript in Alzheimer's brain tissue, with some changes related to age and pathology severity. It is an observational gene expression study and does not test any treatment or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 32/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 31 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 32 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neurobiology of aging) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Neurobiology of Aging: journal h-index 263 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 1994 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 3 / 7 | Cited 33 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 1.0 citations a year over 34 year(s) since 1994 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 1.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 1 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Shao-Sun Bou holds only 2 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | University of Calgary: institution h-index 1,028 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 7891822) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 31 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 31 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 32 out of 100. |
| Total | 32 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription Unpaywall, Europe PMC and OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 10 Oct 2026), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Robinson, C. A., Clark, A. W., Parhad, I. M., Fung, T. S., & Bou, S. S. (1994). Gene expression in Alzheimer neocortex as a function of age and pathologic severity. Neurobiology of aging. https://doi.org/10.1016/0197-4580(94)90049-3
Vancouver
Robinson CA, Clark AW, Parhad IM, Fung TS, Bou SS. Gene expression in Alzheimer neocortex as a function of age and pathologic severity. Neurobiology of aging. 1994. doi:10.1016/0197-4580(94)90049-3. PMID: 7891822.
BibTeX
@article{robinson1994-7891822,
author = {Robinson, C. A. and Clark, A. W. and Parhad, I. M. and Fung, T. S. and Bou, S. S.},
title = {{Gene expression in Alzheimer neocortex as a function of age and pathologic severity}},
journal = {Neurobiology of aging},
year = {1994},
doi = {10.1016/0197-4580(94)90049-3},
pmid = {7891822},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/0197-4580(94)90049-3}
}
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