Most studies agree that specific regions of the hippocampus and specific subcortical regions show neuronal loss in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aim of the study was to use design-based stereological methods to obtain an estimate of the total glial cell population in 14 AD cases and 20 controls to determine whether brains from AD patients have a different number of neocortical glial cells than controls. The mean total number of neocortical glial cells was 25.9 x 10(9) for the AD group and 29.1 x 10(9) for the control group, 2p = 0.18. The mean total number of neocortical neurons was 18.9 x 10(9) for the AD group and 21.2 x 10(9) for the control group, 2p = 0.059. Estimates of the sum of all glial cells and neurons in the neocortex were in the order of 50 billion cells with a glia to neuron ratio of 1.37 in both groups.
Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel