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Neurochemical characteristics of early and late onset types of Alzheimer's disease
Rossor MN, Iversen LL, Reynolds GP, Mountjoy CQ, Roth M.. British medical journal (Clinical research ed.), 1984-03-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Brains of 49 patients who had died with Alzheimer's disease and 54 controls were examined. The Alzheimer group exhibited noticeably reduced activity of the cholinergic marker enzyme choline acetyltransferase in the cerebral cortex, but cortical concentrations of noradrenaline, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and somatostatin were also significantly reduced. Analysis of the results according to age at death showed that the older patients, dying in their 9th and 10th decades, had a relatively pure cholinergic deficit confined to temporal lobe and hippocampus, together with a reduced concentration of somatostatin confined to temporal cortex.
Key findings
- The Alzheimer group exhibited noticeably reduced activity of the cholinergic marker enzyme choline acetyltransferase in the cerebral cortex, but cortical concentrations of noradrenaline, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and somatostatin were also significantly reduced.
- Analysis of the results according to age at death showed that the older patients, dying in their 9th and 10th decades, had a relatively pure cholinergic deficit confined to temporal lobe and hippocampus, together with a reduced concentration of somatostatin confined to temporal cortex.
- By contrast, the younger patients, dying in their 7th and 8th decades, had a widespread and severe cholinergic deficit together with the abnormalities of noradrenaline, gamma-aminobutyric acid, and somatostatin, and the younger patients accounted for most of the abnormalities in these systems observed in the overall group.
- Comparison of the young subjects with Alzheimer's disease with the older controls did not support the concept of Alzheimer's disease representing an acceleration of the aging process.
Why it matters
In brains of 49 patients who died with Alzheimer's disease, the study found reduced cholinergic marker enzyme activity and reduced noradrenaline, gamma-aminobutyric acid and somatostatin, with older patients showing a relatively pure cholinergic deficit in temporal lobe and hippocampus. It is a post-mortem neurochemical description and does not report any treatment, cure or prevention.
Study details
- Participants49
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 52/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, so that was left out: it earned 50 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 52 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (British medical journal (Clinical research ed.)) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| 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 | 1984 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 49 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 417 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 9.5 citations a year over 44 year(s) since 1984 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 33.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 5 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 7 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Martin Roth: h-index 61 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of Cambridge: institution h-index 1,973 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 6142750) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 50 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 50 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 52 out of 100. |
| Total | 52 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
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
Rossor, M. N., Iversen, L. L., Reynolds, G. P., Mountjoy, C. Q., & Roth, M. (1984). Neurochemical characteristics of early and late onset types of Alzheimer's disease. British medical journal (Clinical research ed.). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.288.6422.961
Vancouver
Rossor MN, Iversen LL, Reynolds GP, Mountjoy CQ, Roth M. Neurochemical characteristics of early and late onset types of Alzheimer's disease. British medical journal (Clinical research ed.). 1984. doi:10.1136/bmj.288.6422.961. PMID: 6142750.
BibTeX
@article{rossor1984-6142750,
author = {Rossor, M. N. and Iversen, L. L. and Reynolds, G. P. and Mountjoy, C. Q. and Roth, M.},
title = {{Neurochemical characteristics of early and late onset types of Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {British medical journal (Clinical research ed.)},
year = {1984},
doi = {10.1136/bmj.288.6422.961},
pmid = {6142750},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.288.6422.961}
}
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