Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease:: α-synuclein in dystrophic neurites of Aβ plaques

The contribution of alpha -synuclein accumulation in Alzheimer's disease (AD) plaques is currently a matter of scientific debate. In the present study antisera against the N- and C-terminus, the full-length protein and the central so-called non-amyloid component (NAC) domain of the alpha -synuclein protein were used to address this question in brains of cases with typical AD and of cases with the Lewy body (LB) variant of AD. In typical AD cases, none of the antisera revealed evidence for co-accumulation of alpha -synuclein with extracellular A beta peptides in plaques or in dystrophic neurites decorating the plaque core. Interestingly, cases with mixed pathology of the LB variant of AD revealed accumulation of alpha -synuclein in LBs and in dystrophic neurites of A beta plaques. NeuroReport 11:3737-3741 (C) 2000 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.