EFFECT OF POSTMORTEM STORAGE ON THE [H-3] HEMICHOLINIUM-3 BINDING-SITE IN THE RAT-BRAIN - PRELIMINARY-STUDY FOR INVESTIGATIONS OF HUMAN PATIENTS WITH ALZHEIMERS-DISEASE

The effect of postmortem storage at room temperature (24-26-degrees-C, 0-4 h) and cold-room temperature (4-degrees-C, (0-24 h) on the [H-3]h emicholinium-3 binding sites in the brain hippocampus, cortex and cere bellum of 3-month-old Wistar rats was studied. A slow decrease in the density of the binding sites was observed at both temperatures, which was best fit by a linear model common for all three brain regions. No systematic alterations of the affinity of the binding sites for hemich olinium-3 were found. The values obtained from experiments with animal s were compared with the values measured in the frontal cortex of old men. Approaches to the evaluation of data obtained from postmortem sam ples of human brain tissue of patients with Alzheimer's disease are pr oposed.