White Matter Lesions Are Not Related to beta-Amyloid Deposition in an Autopsy-Based Study.

Abstract

Population-based studies have investigated the relation between beta-amyloid levels in cerebrospinal fluid or plasma and white matter lesions (WMLs). However, these circulating levels of beta-amyloid in cerebrospinal fluid or plasma may not reliably reflect the actual degree of amyloid present in the brain. Therefore, we investigated the relation between WMLs and beta-amyloid plaques and amyloid angiopathy in brain tissue. WML on MRI or CT were rated in 28 nondemented patients whose neuroimaging was available prior to death. beta-amyloid in plaques and arterioles were immunohistochemically stained and quantified in postmortem brain necropsies. WMLs were present in 43% of the total population. Both cortex and periventricular region showed no differences for beta-amyloid deposition in either plaques or blood vessel walls in patients with WMLs compared to those without WMLs. Thus, our results indicate that there is no relation between the degree of WMLs and beta-amyloid deposition in the brain.