title: Neuropathological study 16 years after autologous adrenal medullary transplantation in a Parkinson's disease patient.
abstract: To date, there is no clinicopathological correlation of adrenal medullary transplant cases in patients with survival beyond a few years. Postmortem examination of a brain from a patient with Parkinson's disease (PD), 16 years after autologous adrenal medullary transplant, was performed using tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and chromogranin A. The patient experienced a four-year initial improvement in motor function followed by resumption of the progressive nature of her disease that continued until her death. She expired 16 years following grafting. At autopsy, TH stain of the brain revealed severe loss of TH-immunoreactivity in the substantia nigra and Lewy bodies, confirming the diagnosis of PD. The transplant site was identified by the presence of scarring and there was complete absence of any TH staining cells at the site of the transplant. There were few surviving cells staining with chromogranin A. The absence of TH-staining cells in the transplant 16 years after surgery provides further evidence that adrenal medullary transplants do not survive in the long term.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois 60612, USA. Katie_A_Kompoliti@rush.edu
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kompoliti
authors.forename: Yaping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Shannon
authors.forename: Jeffrey H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kordower
mesh_terms: D000313:Adrenal Medulla / Q000166:cytology / Q000637:transplantation*; D001344:Autopsy / Q000379:methods; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D053379:Chromogranin A / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous / Q000379:methods*; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D053379:Chromogranin A; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase