Alterations of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtypes in diffuse Lewy body disease: relation to Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

The m1 receptor is the major subtype in the cerebral cortex, and m2 is known to be present at presynaptic terminals. The higher proportions of m1 in DLBD and m2 in Alzheimer's disease suggest that the manner of degeneration in the cholinergic system is different between the diseases. It is hypothesised that a severe depletion of presynaptic cholinergic projective neurons causes the upregulation of m1 receptor in the temporal cortex in DLBD.