Abstract
In the present investigation we examined the possibility that patients with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT) produce antibodies which interact with cholinergic neurons. The anticholinergic antibody contents of sera obtained from 10 SDAT patients and 5 elderly controls were assayed by means of a solid phase immunoassay (ELISA). Using purely cholinergic cell bodies isolated from the electric lobe of Torpedo brain as antigen, binding of SDAT sera was 156±32% of controls. Statistical analysis of the results by means of Student’s t-test and Wilcoxon two-sample test found them to be significantly different (p<0.01). By contrast binding of SDAT sera to purely cholinergic nerve terminals isolated from the Torpedo electric organ did not differ statistically from those of controls. The significance of the SDAT antibodies directed against these antigens in the pathogenesis of SDAT and their potential use in diagnostic procedures is discussed.
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