Quantification of regional glial fibrillary acidic protein levels in Alzheimer's disease.

Objectives – Our objectives were to quantify glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases, and non-AD controls to determine the regions with the most severe gliosis in AD. Material and methods – In a case–control design, we used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to quantify GFAP in frozen brain from four areas of neocortex in 10 AD cases, 10 age-matched controls, and 10 younger controls from the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study autopsy archive. Results – Median age at death was 83.5 years for cases and age-matched controls, and 77 years for younger controls. For the AD cases compared with the age-matched controls, levels of GFAP in occipital (P =0.01), parietal (P =0.028), and temporal lobes (P =0.004) (but not frontal) were significantly higher in the cases. The median GFAP excess in AD cases compared with age matched controls was highest in the temporal lobe. Conclusions – Regional quantification of GFAP reveals that the glial response is most prominent in the temporal lobe in AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]