Basal forebrain cholinergic lesion by 192 IgG-saporin a tool to assess the consequences of cortical cholinergic dysfunction in alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease, the most common neurodegenerative disorder causing senile dementia, is characterized by two major morphopathological hallmarks. The deposition of extracellular neuritic, β-amyloid peptide-containing plaques (senile plaques) in hippocampal and cerebral cortical regions of patients with Alzheimer's disease is accompanied by the presence of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles that occupy much of the cytoplasm of particular pyramidal neurons. © 2005 Humana Press Inc.