The 12-imidazoline site (a non-adrenergic mitochondrial site for which a glial location has been proposed and that is associated with the B-form of the enzyme monoamine oxidase) was evaluated in Postmortem cortical membranes from 9 subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 9 matched-controls by using [H-3]idazoxan (0.6-30 nM) in the presence of 10(-6) M (-)-adrenaline to prevent binding to alpha2-adrenoceptors. In AD the density (B(max)) of I2-imidazoline sites was significantly higher (+63%) than in controls whereas no differences were apparent in affinity values (K(d)). The results support the hypothesis that the I2 imidazoline site has a major location on glial (astrocyte) cells.