Secondary deposition of beta amyloid within extracellular neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer-type dementia.
The hippocampal areas of 34 autopsy specimen brains from aged demented and nondemented subjects were examined using double staining of Bodian and beta protein. In 18 cases (75.5 +/- 7.4 years old), none of the extracellular neurofibrillary tangles (E-NFTs) were immunoreactive with beta protein. In 16 cases (82.9 +/- 5.4 years old), the minority of E-NFTs were immunoreactive with beta-protein antiserum. These beta-immunoreactive E-NFTs frequently appeared in the areas having senile plaques, while they were not observed in the area lacking beta-immunoreactive senile plaques. The ultrastructure of beta-immunoreactive E-NFTs revealed that they consisted of extracellular amyloid fibrils, extracellularly located bundles of paired helical filaments, astroglial processes and degenerating neurites. These findings suggest that the beta immunoreactivity of E-NFTs comes from secondary deposition of amyloid fibrils.
Yamaguchi
H
H
College of Medical Care and Technology, Gunma University, Tokyo, Japan.
Nakazato
Y
Y
Shoji
M
M
Okamoto
K
K
Ihara
Y
Y
Morimatsu
M
M
Hirai
S
S
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D003704:Dementia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008875:Middle Aged; D009454:Neurofibrils / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013194:Staining and Labeling
D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides