Alterations of glial fibrillary acidic protein mRNA level in the aging brain and in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type

The GFAP mRNA levels were compared to the density of the senile plaques (SP) in postmortem brain samples of 8 cases, either non-demented or affected by senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. In the frontal neocortex, the GFAP mRNA level is not affected, even if SP are present. In the temporal neocortex, a positive correlation between GFAP mRNA level and SP density was highly significant. This shows that in this area, astrocytes are altered at transcriptional or post-transcriptional levels, or both. The different responses of this astrogliosis marker in each area may be related to the loss of specific neurotransmitter system.