Argyrophilic grain disease: frequency and neuropathology in centenarians.
Argyrophilic grain disease (AGD) is a progressive degenerative disease of the human brain, the prevalence of which increases with advancing age. The features of AGD in autopsied brains from 32 centenarians were studied using phosphorylated tau (AT8) immunostaining combined with Gallyas-Braak staining and 4R tau-specific antibody (RD4) immunostaining. Ten of 32 centenarians were diagnosed as AGD, yielding an overall frequency of 31.3%. In the demented group, nine (39.1%) of 23 cases were found with argyrophilic grains (AGs), while in the non-demented group, AGs were found in only one (11.1%) of nine cases, the difference between them being significant (P<0.05). Among the cases with Alzheimer's disease (AD), five (41.7%) of 12 were found with AGs. One (25%) of four cases with senile dementia with tangles (SDT) also suffered from AGD. Dementia caused by "pure" AGD accounted for 13% (3/23) among demented subjects. Our findings indicated that there is a high frequency of AGD in centenarians. In agreement with previous studies, we favor the view that age may be one of the risk factors for AGD.
Ding
Zheng-Tong
ZT
Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Wang
Yin
Y
Jiang
Yu-Ping
YP
Yoshida
Mari
M
Mimuro
Maya
M
Inagaki
Toshiaki
T
Iwase
Tamaki
T
Hashizume
Yoshio
Y
D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D016874:Neurofibrillary Tangles / Q000473:pathology; D016875:tau Proteins
C054369:MAPT protein, human; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D016875:tau Proteins