title: Acidophilic crystalline inclusion body in the caudate nerve cells.
abstract: Acidophilic crystalline inclusion bodies (ACBs) within the cytoplasm of large neurons of the caudate nucleus and putamen were described. ACB was eosinophilic needle-shaped intracytoplasmic material and electronmicroscopically composed of filamentous material. Some were found in the cisterns of rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum. There was no histochemical and electronmicroscopic similarity between ACB and Mallory's hyaline bodies of hepatocytes. Though ACBs were noted in a high incidence in alcohol drinkers (65.7%), particularly suffering of alcoholic encephalopathy (72.2%), they were also found in patients without drinking habit (53.9%). In the latter cases, the incidence was high in aged people and patients dying of debilitating diseases (75%) or malignant tumors (57.1%). Consequently, ACB is not pathognomonic for chronic alcoholisms. On histochemical and electron microscopic studies, ACB was considered as a proteinic material, originated from rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum, and resulted from some disordered protein synthesis of the neurons.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000473:pathology; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008875:Middle Aged