Spontaneous and induced chromosome damage in somatic cells of sporadic andfamilial Alzheimer's disease patients

Alzhieimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder of the elderly wi th a complex etiology due to the interaction between genetic and environmen tal factors. At least 15% of cases are inherited as an autosomal dominant m utation, but the majority are sporadic. We evaluated cytogenetic alteration s, both spontaneous and chemical-induced [aluminium (Al) and griseofulvin ( GF)], by means of the micronucleus (MN) test in lymphocytes or skin fibrobl asts of 14 patients with sporadic and eight with familial Alzheimer's disea se (FAD), respectively. The spontaneous MN frequencies of sporadic (20.8 +/ - 9.2) and familial (20.7 +/- 4.6) AD patients are significantly higher tha n those of the respective control groups (9.0 +/- 6.8 and 6.7 +/- 3.4). In all AD patients, GF significantly increased the spontaneous MN frequency of somatic cells to a lesser extent (P < 0.05) as compared with the control g roup, Al treatment did not induce MN in AD patients. The results of the pre sent study indicate that different types of somatic cells from sporadic and familial AD patients show comparable levels of spontaneous cytogenetic ano malies, and MN induction is partially reduced or lacking according to the t ype of chemical treatments.