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The neostriatum and nucleus accumbens in parkinsonism-dementia complex of Guam: a pathological comparison with Alzheimer's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy

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Abstract

The neostriatum, nucleus accumbens and basal nucleus of Meynert (bnM) in the parkinsonismdementia complex of Guam (Guam PDC) were examined immunohistologically, ultrastructurally, quantitatively and topographically, and the results were compared with those in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Compared to neurologically normal controls, the number of large neurons in Guam PDC was reduced by approximately 70% in the caudate nucleus and putamen and by more than 90% in the nucleus accumbens. The decreased number of large neurons in the neostriatum was significantly correlated to that in the bnM. The remaining large neurons and many of the medium-sized neurons in the neostriatum and nucleus accumbens were immunopositive for tau protein and contained varying amounts of 21- to 25-nm-wide paired helical filaments (PHFs) admixed with straight tubules. Curly fibers and circularly arranged reactive astrocytes were seen in the nucleus accumbens of many PDC patients. Collectively, these findings, which are similar in part to those of AD and differ from those of PSP, suggest that the large neurons in the neostriatum and nucleus accumbens in Guam PDC degenerate through PHF formation, and that extremely severe loss of large neurons in the nucleus accumbens may be linked to marked degeneration of the limbic and ventral tegmental areas and nucleus dorsal raphe.

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Author notes

  1. Takao Makifuchi

    Present address: Division of Neuropathology, National Saigata Hospital, 949-31, Oogata, Niigata, Japan

  2. Takashi Ohtoh

    Present address: Department of Pathology, National Sendai Hospital, 983, Sendai, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Center for Materials of Brain Diseases, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 1 Asahimachi, 951, Niigata, Japan

    Kiyomitsu Oyanagi & Takao Makifuchi

  2. Department of Pathology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 951, Niigata, Japan

    Takashi Ohtoh & Fusahiro Ikuta

  3. Guam Memorial Hospital, 96911, Tamuning, Guam, USA

    Kwang-Ming Chen

  4. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    D. Carleton Gajdusek & Thomas N. Chase

Authors
  1. Kiyomitsu Oyanagi
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  2. Takao Makifuchi
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  3. Takashi Ohtoh
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  4. Kwang-Ming Chen
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  5. D. Carleton Gajdusek
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  6. Thomas N. Chase
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  7. Fusahiro Ikuta
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Additional information

Supported in part by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas No. 02240104 from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan

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Oyanagi, K., Makifuchi, T., Ohtoh, T. et al. The neostriatum and nucleus accumbens in parkinsonism-dementia complex of Guam: a pathological comparison with Alzheimer's disease and progressive supranuclear palsy. Acta Neuropathol 88, 122–128 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00294504

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00294504

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