Pathological involvement of the motor neuron system and hippocampal formation in motor neuron disease-inclusion dementia.

Full Abstract

We report two patients with motor neuron disease-inclusion dementia, with special reference to the pathology of the motor neuron system and hippocampal formation. The ages of the patients at death were 55 and 62 years, and the disease durations were 8 and 3 years, respectively. The two patients exhibited progressive frontotemporal dementia in the absence of motor neuron signs. At autopsy, both cases exhibited frontotemporal lobar atrophy with ubiquitin-positive, and tau- and alpha-synuclein-negative neuronal inclusions. As expected from the clinical signs, in both cases, the upper and lower motor neuron systems were well preserved:
no Bunina bodies or ubiquitinated inclusions were detected in the motor neurons. However, of great importance was that when visualized immunohistochemically, the Golgi apparatus and trans-Golgi network often exhibited fragmentation in the lower motor neurons (the spinal anterior horn cells). In one of the cases, a decrease in the amount of Golgi apparatus was also a frequent feature in the upper motor neurons (Betz cells in the motor cortex). Moreover, in both cases, circumscribed degeneration affecting the CA1-subiculum border zone was evident in the hippocampal formation. These findings further strengthen the idea that, pathologically, motor neuron disease-inclusion dementia is a rare phenotype of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

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Author information

Author/s: Toyoshima, Yasuko (Y); Piao, Yue-Shan (YS); Tan, Chun-Feng (CF); Morita, Masahiro (M); Tanaka, Masaharu (M); Oyanagi, Kiyomitsu (K); Okamoto, Koichi (K); Takahashi, Hitoshi (H);

Affiliation: Department of Pathology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 1-757 Asahimachi, 951-8585 Niigata, Japan. yasuko(-atsign-)bri.niigata-u.ac.jp

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Case Reports; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Acta neuropathologica (Acta Neuropathol), published in Germany. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Jul; vol 106 (issue 1) : pp 50-6

Dates: Created 2003/05/29; Completed 2003/08/11; Revised 2008/11/21;

PMID: 12669241, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Crystallins - metabolism
Cystatin C
Cystatins - metabolism
Dementia - complications; metabolism; pathology
Frontal Lobe - pathology
Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein - metabolism
Glycoproteins
Hippocampus - pathology
Humans
Inclusion Bodies - pathology
Male

Membrane Glycoproteins - metabolism
Membrane Proteins
Middle Aged
Motor Neuron Disease - complications; metabolism; pathology
Nerve Tissue Proteins - metabolism
Neurofilament Proteins - metabolism
Spinal Cord - pathology
Synucleins
Ubiquitin - metabolism
alpha-Synuclein
tau Proteins - metabolism

Associated Chemicals: CST3 protein, human (0) ; Crystallins (0) ; Cystatin C (0) ; Cystatins (0) ; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (0) ; Glycoproteins (0) ; Membrane Glycoproteins (0) ; Membrane Proteins (0) ; Nerve Tissue Proteins (0) ; Neurofilament Proteins (0) ; SNCA protein, human (0) ; Synucleins (0) ; TGOLN2 protein, human (0) ; Ubiquitin (0) ; alpha-Synuclein (0) ; tau Proteins (0)

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