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Abstract
GABAB and GABAA receptors were examined by quantitative [3H]GABA autoradiography in
postmortem human hippocampus from 6 histopathologically verified cases of dementia
of the Alzheimer type (DAT) and 6 normal controls. Significant decrements in the Bmax
for both types of GABA receptors were observed in DAT hippocampus as compared to normal
controls. No significant differences in Kd values were revealed. As compared to controls,
DAT hippocampus exhibited fewer GABAB receptors in stratum moleculare of the dentate
gyrus, stratum lacunosum-moleculare and stratum pyramidale of CA1. Significant loss
of GABAA receptors in DAT hippocampus was also observed in the CA1 pyramidal cell
region. These changes could not be correlated with differences in age nor in postmortem
delay between the two groups. These findings may reflect the neuronal pathologies
in CA1 region, in dentate gyrus, and in projections from the entorhinal cortex which
are associated with the memory impairment in DAT.