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Synaptic loss in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias
Hamos JE, DeGennaro LJ, Drachman DA.. Neurology, 1989-03-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Plain-language summary
The extent and location of neuronal losses necessary or sufficient to produce dementia in patients with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is unknown. To approach this question, we studied synaptic terminals in postmortem brain tissue utilizing immunohistochemical techniques. We used antibodies against two proteins found in synaptic terminals--synapsin I and synaptophysin--as synaptic markers in the hippocampal complexes of eight patients with autopsy-proven AD and eight nondemented control subjects. Quantitative microscopy measured the regional density of synaptic staining. All AD patients showed a striking decrease in synaptic staining in the outer half of the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus compared with control brains, where the density of synaptic terminals was uniform throughout. In an additional patient with progressive degenerative dementia but without plaques or tangles on neuropathologic examination, similar depletion of synaptic staining was seen in the dentate gyrus. Quantitative densitometric analyses confirmed the focal decrease in synaptic staining in the outer half of the molecular layer in demented patients. We also found a slight increase in synaptic staining in the inner half of this layer.
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APA 7th
Hamos, J. E., DeGennaro, L. J., & Drachman, D. A. (1989). Synaptic loss in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.39.3.355
Vancouver
Hamos JE, DeGennaro LJ, Drachman DA. Synaptic loss in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias. Neurology. 1989. doi:10.1212/wnl.39.3.355. PMID: 2927643.
BibTeX
@article{hamos1989-2927643,
author = {Hamos, J. E. and DeGennaro, L. J. and Drachman, D. A.},
title = {{Synaptic loss in Alzheimer's disease and other dementias}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {1989},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.39.3.355},
pmid = {2927643},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.39.3.355}
}
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Key findings
- All AD patients showed a striking decrease in synaptic staining in the outer half of the molecular layer of the dentate gyrus compared with control brains, where the density of synaptic terminals was uniform throughout.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 40 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| 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 | 1989 — 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) |
| Randomized / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 2927643) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 23 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 23 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 40 out of 100. |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
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