A quantitative study of the pathological lesions in the neocortex and hippocampus of twelve patients with corticobasal degeneration.
The density of ballooned neurons (BN), tau-positive neurons with inclusion bodies (tau+ neurons), and tau-positive plaques (tau+ plaques) was determined in sections of the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobe in 12 patients with corticobasal degeneration (CBD). No significant differences in the mean density of BN and tau+ neurons were observed between neocortical regions. In the hippocampus, the densities of BN were significantly lower than in the neocortex, and densities of tau+ neurons were greater in sectors CA1 and CA2, compared with CA3 and CA4. Tau+ plaques were present in one or more brain regions in six patients. Significantly more BN were recorded in the lower (laminae V/VI) compared with the upper cortex (laminae I/II/III) but tau+ neurons were equally frequent in the upper and lower cortex. No significant correlations were observed between the densities of BN and tau+ neurons, but the densities of BN in the superior temporal gyrus and tau+ plaques in the frontal cortex were positively correlated with age. A principal components analysis (PCA) suggested that differences in the density of tau+ neurons in the frontal and motor cortex were the most important sources of variation between patients. In addition, one patient with a particularly high density of tau+ neurons in the hippocampus appeared to be atypical of the patient group studied. The data support the hypothesis that, although clinically heterogeneous, CBD is a pathologically distinct disorder.
Armstrong
R A
RA
Vision Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET, United Kingdom.
Cairns
N J
NJ
Lantos
P L
PL
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019579:Neocortex / Q000473:pathology*; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000032:analysis*
D016875:tau Proteins