Morphologic difference of neuropil threads in Alzheimer's disease, corticobasal degeneration and progressive supranuclear palsy: a morphometric study.
Using Gallyas-Braak's silver stain, neuropil threads (NTs) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) were analyzed morphologically and morphometrically. The NT density was highest in the cerebral cortical layer V in AD and CBD, and in the subcortical white matter in PSP. An overlaid, two-dimensional, camera lucida drawing revealed differences in the fine profile of NTs among these three disease groups. The differences were confirmed by computerized feature analysis which revealed differences in maximum length, breadth, Feret's angle and orientation of the NTs. Unlike a previous assumption that all NTs have a similar appearance, our study revealed that NTs in AD, CBD and PSP were distinctively different with respect to their morphology.
Komori
T
T
Clinical Neuropathology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience, Fuchu City, Japan. komori@tmin.ac.jp
Arai
N
N
Oda
M
M
Nakayama
H
H
Murayama
S
S
Amano
N
N
Shibata
N
N
Kobayashi
M
M
Sasaki
S
S
Yagishita
S
S
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001480:Basal Ganglia Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D009410:Nerve Degeneration; D019600:Neuropil Threads / Q000473:pathology*; D013494:Supranuclear Palsy, Progressive / Q000473:pathology*