Dentritic,
Spinal and Mitochondrial Alternations in Alzheimer’s Desease.
A Preliminary Descriptive Study
Ioannis MAVROUDIS *1, 2, Fopivos PETRIDIS 2, 3, Dimitrios KAZIS 3,
Samuel NJAU 4, Vasiliki COSTA 2,
Stavros BALOYANNIS 2, 5
1 Leeds Teaching Hospitals, NHS Trust, Leeds, UK
2 Laboratory
of Neuropathology and Electron Microscopy, Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki, Greece
3 Third
Department of Neurology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
4 Laboratory
of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
Greece
5 Research
Institute of aging and Alzheimer’s disease, Heraklion Langada,
Greece
* Corresponding author e-mail: i.mavroudis@nhs.net
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder
characterized by cognitive impairment, affecting memory and associated with
behavioral and mood changes. The pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s disease
involves a number of cellular and biochemical mechanisms.
In the present study we aimed to describe the morphological alterations
of dendrites, dendritic spines, synapses and mitochondria in Alzheimer’s
disease. For the purpose of the study we examined
different brain areas in twenty brains from Alzheimer’s disease patients, and
twenty age-matched individuals who died accidentally.
We found significant loss of dendritic branches and decrease of spinal
density, changes of the synapses and severe alterations of the mitochondria.
The findings of the present study constitute the
pathological background for the cognitive decline seen in Alzheimer’s disease,
and are in favour of a significant role of
mitochondria in early stages of the pathogenesis of the disease.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s
disease, dendritic pathology, morphological alterations, mitochondria,
oxidative stress
DOI https://doi.org/10.56082/annalsarscibio.2020.2.43
