Pericytes are vascular mural cells that surround capillaries of the central nervous system (CNS). They are crucial for brain development and contribute to CNS homeostasis by regulating blood–brain barrier function and cerebral blood flow. It has been suggested that pericytes are lost in Alzheimer's disease (AD), implicating this cell type in disease pathology. Here, we have employed state‐of‐the‐art stereological morphometry techniques as well as tissue clearing and two‐photon imaging to assess the distribution of pericytes in two independent cohorts of AD (n = 16 and 13) and non‐demented controls (n = 16 and 4). Stereological quantification revealed increased capillary density with a normal pericyte population in the frontal cortex of AD brains, a region with early amyloid β deposition. Two‐photon analysis of cleared frontal cortex tissue confirmed the preservation of pericytes in AD cases. These results suggest that pericyte demise is not a general hallmark of AD pathology.

中文翻译：

---

阿尔茨海默氏病中具有保留的周细胞的更密集的脑毛细血管网络。

周细胞是围绕中枢神经系统（CNS）毛细血管的血管壁细胞。它们对大脑发育至关重要，并通过调节血脑屏障功能和脑血流促进中枢神经系统稳态。有人认为，阿尔茨海默病 (AD) 中周细胞会丢失，这表明这种细胞类型与疾病病理学有关。在这里，我们采用了最先进的体视形态测量技术以及组织透明和双光子成像来评估两个独立的 AD 组（n = 16 和 13）和非痴呆对照组（n = 16 和 13）中周细胞的分布。 n = 16 和 4)。体视学定量显示，AD 大脑额叶皮层（早期β淀粉样蛋白沉积区域）的毛细血管密度增加，周细胞群正常。对透明额叶皮层组织的双光子分析证实了 AD 病例中周细胞的保存。这些结果表明周细胞死亡并不是 AD 病理学的一般标志。