EXPRESSION OF APOLIPOPROTEIN-E IN NORMAL AND DIVERSE NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASE BRAIN

BRAINS from 21 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), nine with diffu se Lewy body disease (DLBD), six with progressive supranuclear palsy ( PSP) and five with Parkinson's disease (PD) as well as 20 normal subje cts were examined to detect apolipoprotein E (ApoE) by immunohistochem istry and immunoblotting. ApoE antigenicity was optimally preserved in Bouin-fixed tissues compared with those fixed in neutral-buffered for malin, 70% ethanol or denatured by microwave energy. ApoE immunoreacti vity was prominent in senile plaques and in intra- and extra-neuronal tangles, as well as in a diverse neurones and their processes and astr oglial cells. Notably, tangles in PSP and Lewy bodies in PD and DLBD w ere both devoid of ApoE immunoreactivity. Western blots of cerebral co rtex revealed an immunoreactive ApoE band with mel. wt of 34 kDa. Our results suggest that ApoE is not a crucial factor in the development o f neuronal inclusions in DLBD, PSP and PD.