Moreover, pilot observations following the staining of paraffined hippocampal sections of brains from AD, DS and control groups with NeuN and IBA1 antibodies as neuronal and glial markers, respectively, indicated that STARD1 and NPC1 expression increased in hippocampal neurons from AD and DA brains with respect to control, without changes in glia (not shown). This evidence concerns the gene STAR and Alzheimer disease.