Cerebral beta-amyloid occurs in elderly animals of some species and in Alzheimer's disease. Previously, we injected 3 young marmosets intracerebrally with brain tissue from a patient with Alzheimer's disease. Six years later, when the monkeys were middle aged, we found moderate numbers of intracerebral plaques and cerebrovascular deposits containing beta-amyloid. We have re-examined these brains and those of 10 other marmosets injected with brain homogenate containing beta-amyloid, and have found some beta-amyloid in animals injected more than 4 years previously. We have found beta-amyloid in 4 of 26 elderly control marmosets, but not in 9 young to middle-aged control marmosets. The beta-amyloid found in middle aged marmosets injected with Alzheimer brain tissue was, therefore, not a consequence of their age. Deposits in large cerebral vessels in elderly marmosets, and in marmosets previously injected with brain tissue containing beta-amyloid, reacted with antibodies to Abeta and Abeta1-40; plaques and microvessel deposits reacted with antibodies to Abeta and Abeta1-42.

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Fornix transection in the marmoset produces a specific pattern of cognitive deficits, notably a lack of ability to recall visuospatial tasks learnt preoperatively, and a deficit in acquiring new visuospatial tasks following transection. Previous work has shown that this learning impairment can be ameliorated by cholinergic agonists, suggesting that it occurs as a consequence of destroying the cholinergic projection from the vertical limb of the diagonal band to the hippocampus which runs through the fornix. We have now shown that this deficit in new learning can be significantly alleviated by the 5-HT1A antagonist, WAY 100635. This result supports the suggestion that 5-HT1A projections are inhibitory on the same target cells for which cholinergic projections are excitatory, and that loss of function in the target cells caused by loss of excitatory tone can be compensated by blockade of inhibitory tone. Since cholinergic loss in the hippocampus (and neocortex) occurs in association with cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease, these results suggest that 5-HT1A antagonists may have a role in the treatment of some of the cognitive symptoms of dementia.