Neurochemical enzyme changes in Alzheimer's and Pick's disease.

Neurochemical investigations of the whole temporal lobe of cases with Alzheimer's disease (n = 15); 80.7 +/- 1.7 yr), Pick's disease (n = 3; 65 +/- 1.7 yr), and age-matched controls (n = 18; 74.7 +/- 2.6 yr), demonstrate that Alzheimer's and Pick's disease are primary degenerative brain diseases. The activities of glycolytic enzymes, ATPases, carbonic anhydrase, acetylcholinesterase and protein kinase were significantly lower in Alzheimer's and in Pick's disease than in age-matched controls. Pick's disease is characterised by a more pronounced reduction of the enzymes investigated, which is considered to be an expression of a more dramatic degenerative process. The differences between Alzheimer's disease and Pick's disease are quantitative.