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Immunocytochemical comparison of neurofibrillary tangles in senile dementia of Alzheimer type, progressive supranuclear palsy, and postencephalitic parkinsonism
Author(s) -
Yen ShuHui,
Horoupian Dikran S.,
Terry Robert D.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410130211
Subject(s) - progressive supranuclear palsy , parkinsonism , substantia nigra , pathology , corticobasal degeneration , antiserum , senile plaques , olivopontocerebellar atrophy , chemistry , atrophy , alzheimer's disease , biology , parkinson's disease , medicine , degenerative disease , antibody , immunology , disease
Antiserum raised against a two‐cycle‐purified human brain microtubule fraction that binds specifically to tangles of senile dementia of the Alzheimer type was tested on the subthalamus, basis pontis, and midbrain sections of two patients with progressive supranuclear palsy. Tangles composed of 15 nm straight fibers in these areas showed positive immunolabeling with the antiserum. The labeling tangles appeared as a fibrous meshwork in neuronal cell bodies and occasionally in short segments of axons. Corresponding sections of brains obtained from patients with idiopathic parkinsonism, striatonigral degeneration, and olivopontocerebellar atrophy treated with the same antiserum did not display peroxidase products. Only in the elderly subjects and patients with postencephalitic parkinsonism did the periaqueductal gray and median raphe show occasional cells that reacted positively with the antiserum. Tangles in the substantia nigra of patients with postencephalitic parkinsonism were also recognized by the antiserum. The results suggest that the two morphologically distinct neurofibrillary tangles share their immunological properties with components present in microtubule fractions of normal brain.