Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: occurrence of Bunina bodies in the locus ceruleus pigmented neurons.
Bunina bodies, which are small eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions, have been considered to be specific for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease of unknown cause in adults. They are found usually in the remaining lower motor neurons. We encountered a 66-year-old woman with sporadic ALS showing Bunina body-like eosinophilic inclusions in the cytoplasm of some pigmented neurons in the otherwise intact locus ceruleus (LC). Ultrastructural examination of the LC confirmed that a few pigmented neurons actually contained inclusions identical to Bunina bodies. The finding indicates that Bunina bodies can occur in LC pigmented neurons and suggests that LC may also be involved in the disease process in ALS.
Iwanaga
K
K
Department of Pathology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Japan.
Wakabayashi
K
K
Honma
Y
Y
Takahashi
H
H
D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000473:pathology*; D008125:Locus Coeruleus / Q000473:pathology; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology