Enhancement of immunoreactivity for NF-kappa B in the hippocampal formation and cerebral cortex of Alzheimer's disease.

The distribution of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) was investigated immunohistochemically in the hippocampal formation, entorhinal cortex, middle temporal gyrus and visual cortex of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and control postmortem cases using a polyclonal antibody against the NF-kappa B p65 subunit. In AD cases, prominent staining for NF-kappa B was seen in neurons and their processes, neurofibrillary tangles and dystrophic neurites. In control cases, only weak staining of some neurons was obtained. The neuronal staining observed in AD was strongest in the hippocampal formation and entorhinal cortex, less in the middle temporal gyrus and least in the visual cortex. There was no difference between AD and control cases in the staining of glial cells and vascular walls. These results suggest that enhanced expression of neuronal NF-kappa B occurs in areas affected by AD pathology.