Cited by 3,345Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsDementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

Neuropathological alterations in Alzheimer disease

Open access
Serrano-Pozo, A., Frosch, M. P., Masliah, E., Hyman, B. T.·2011·Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine

Abstract

The neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer disease (AD) include "positive" lesions such as amyloid plaques and cerebral amyloid angiopathy, neurofibrillary tangles, and glial responses, and "negative" lesions such as neuronal and synaptic loss. Despite their inherently cross-sectional nature, postmortem studies have enabled the staging of the progression of both amyloid and tangle pathologies, and, consequently, the development of diagnostic criteria that are now used worldwide. In addition, clinicopathological correlation studies have been crucial to generate hypotheses about the pathophysiology of the disease, by establishing that there is a continuum between "normal" aging and AD dementia, and that the amyloid plaque build-up occurs primarily before the onset of cognitive deficits, while neurofibrillary tangles, neuron loss, and particularly synaptic loss, parallel the progression of cognitive decline. Importantly, these cross-sectional neuropathological data have been largely validated by longitudinal in vivo studies using modern imaging biomarkers such as amyloid PET and volumetric MRI.

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Crossref · 10.1101/cshperspect.a006189

Cites

245 of 245 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Lewy pathology in AD is most frequent in olfactory bulb and amygdala.

    “In particular, Lewy pathology in AD is most frequent in olfactory bulb and the amygdala [23, 123].”

    From The neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (2019) · cites this paper as [23]

    The “Overlap of AD with Lewy Body Disease” section reports Lewy-body-like inclusions in the amygdala and limbic structures in 70% of sporadic AD cases. It does not identify the olfactory bulb as a frequent site or compare sites to establish where Lewy pathology is most frequent. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The direct connection between Aβ and MAPT pathology is poorly understood, as shown by the weak correlation between the distribution of Aβ pathology and the distribution of MAPT pathology in humans.

    “The direct connection between Aβ and MAPT pathology is poorly understood, as shown by the weak correlation between the distribution of Aβ pathology and the distribution of MAPT pathology in humans (Serrano-Pozo et al., 2011; Perez-Nievas et al., 2013; Scheltens et al., 2021).”

    From β-amyloid accumulation enhances microtubule associated protein tau pathology in an APPNL-G-F/MAPTP301S mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (2024) · cites this paper as Serrano-Pozo et al., 2011

    The Topographic Distribution section says amyloid plaques accumulate mainly in the isocortex, unlike neurofibrillary tangles, and describes a particularly noticeable dissociation between their burdens in the medial temporal lobe. This supports the claim that their distributions differ in humans, but the cited passages do not establish that the direct connection between Aβ and tau pathology is poorly understood or report a correlation measure. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Some dystrophic neurites associated with neuritic plaques contain tau filaments, which can have a paired helical filament morphology with electron microscopy.

    “Some of the dystrophic neurites associated with neuritic plaques contain tau filaments, which can have a paired helical filament morphology with electron microscopy [23].”

    From The neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (2019) · cites this paper as [23]

  • Eosinophilic Hirano bodies, granulovacuolar degeneration, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy are common in Alzheimer's disease.

    “Additionally eosinophilic Hirano bodies, granulovacuolar degeneration (GVD) and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) are also common [18, 23].”

    From The neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (2019) · cites this paper as [23]

  • Dense cored neuritic plaques are accompanied by synaptic loss, activated microglia and reactive astrocytes.

    “Dense cored NPs are also accompanied by synaptic loss, activated microglia and reactive astrocytes [23, 29, 36].”

    From The neuropathological diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (2019) · cites this paper as [23]

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2 of the 247 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [200]200. Terry R, Hansen L, Masliah E. 1994. Structural basis of the cognitive alterations in Alzheimer disease. In Alzheimer disease (ed. R. Terry, R. Katzman), pp. 179 -196.

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Authors
Serrano-Pozo, A., Frosch, M. P., Masliah, E., & Hyman, B. T.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • University of California San Diego (US)
Venue
Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine
Published
2011-09-01
Volume
1
Issue
1
Pages
a006189-a006189
ISSN
2157-1422 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2096963202
Cited by
3,345
References
247
Citations by year
2026: 150 · 2025: 269 · 2024: 316 · 2023: 343 · 2022: 348 · 2021: 379 · 2020: 318 · 2019: 261 · 2018: 263 · 2017: 214 · 2016: 168 · 2015: 137 · 2014: 101 · 2013: 44 · 2012: 26
Type
posted content
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (AG5131, AG08487, NS057096, AG10435, AG18840)
  • National Institute on Aging (AG18840, AG-08487, P01AG010435, R37AG018440, P50AG005131, AG-5131, R01AG008487, P50 AG05134, P01AG022074, AG22074, P50AG005134, U19AG010483, AG10435)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (P30NS057096, NS057096)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, neuropathology, amyloid plaques, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, neurofibrillary tangles, glial response, synaptic loss, neuronal loss, clinicopathological correlation, normal aging, cognitive decline, amyloid PET, volumetric MRI, imaging biomarkers
MeSH terms
Aging, Alzheimer Disease, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, Neurofibrillary Tangles, Lewy Body Disease, Positron-Emission Tomography, Plaque, Amyloid, Cognitive Dysfunction

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