Regional specificity of alterations in NGF, BDNF and NT-3 levels in Alzheimer's disease.

Using two-site enzyme immunoassays (EIAs), we measured the levels of neurotrophins, nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) simultaneously in three brain regions (motor cortex, dentate gyrus and entorhinal cortex) of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and control individuals. Significant differences between the neurotrophin levels of these two groups were found in the different brain regions depending on the neurotrophin. The NGF level in the dentate gyrus of AD patients was higher, whereas the BDNF level in the entorhinal cortex and the NT-3 level in the motor cortex were lower than the corresponding control levels. These results indicate that protein levels of individual neurotrophins in different brain regions are affected differently by AD, and such differential changes may contribute to the complex pathology of AD.