Summary
The distribution and morphology of senile plaques (SPs) in the cerebral cortices and subcortical nuclei of six cases of familial Alzheimer's disease (AD) were examined using the Methenamine-Bodian method and compared with those of sporadic AD cases. SPs were grouped into three types according to their morphology. SP types were generally constant at each anatomical site in all of the cases. The SPs of familial cases, however, had a greater tendency to fuse together than those of sporadic cases, especially in the cingulate cortex, presubiculum and striatum. This tendency was more evident in cases with severe amyloid angiopathy. Here it appeared that a SP type corresponding to “diffuse plaques” at least in part, might be formed by transformation from another type. In the globus pallidus, all the familial cases had many compact-like plaques which appeared to be derived from “drusige Entartung” of the capillaries. Furthermore, the regional proportion of two types of SPs occuring in this nucleus varied along its anteroposterior axis. These findings may be the histological hallmarks of atypical AD rather than familial AD.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blessed G, Tomlinson BE, Roth M (1968) The association between quantitative measures of dementia and of senile change in the cerebral grey matter of elderly subjects. Br J Psychiatry 114:797–811
Braak H, Braak E, Kalus P (1989) Alzheimer's disease: areal and laminar pathology in the occipital isocortex. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 77:494–506
Bugiani O, Giaccone G, Frangione B Ghetti B, Tagliavini F (1989) Alzheimer patients: preamyloid deposits are more widely distributed than senile plaques throughout the central nervous system. Neurosci Lett 103:263–268
Corsellis JAN, Brierley JB (1954) An unusual type of pre-senile dementia (atypical Alzheimer's disease with amyloid vascular change). Brain 77:571–587
Duyckaerts C, Hauw JJ, Bastenaire F, Piette F, Poulain C, Rainsard V, Javoy-Agid F, Berthaux P (1986) Laminar distribution of neocortical senile plaques in senile dementia of the Alzheimer type. Acta Neuropathol 70:249–256
Fukatsu N, Ikeda T, Ueno T, Tanabe M, Honma H, Kimura N, Takahata N (1980) An unusual case of presenile dementia with numerous argentophilic plaques and severe amyloid vascular changes. Adv Neurol Sci 24:271–282
Gibson PH (1983) Form and distribution of senile plaques seen in silver-impregnated sections in the brains of intellectually normal elderly people and people with Alzheimer-type dementia. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 9:379–389
Haga C, Yamaguchi H, Ikeda K, Kosaka K (1989) PAM-modified methenamine silver stain for senile plaques: comparison with β-protein immunostaining. Dementia 3:417–422
Ikeda K, Haga C, Kosaka K, Oyanagi S (1989) Senile plaquelike structures: observation of a probably unknown type of senile plaque by periodic acid-methenamine silver (PAM) electron microscopy. Acta Neuropathol 78:137–142
Ikeda S, Allsop D, Glenner GG (1989) Morphology and distribution of plaque and related deposits in the brains of Alzheimer's disease and control cases — An immunohistochemical study using amyloid β-protein antibody. Lab Invest 60:113–122
Iseki E, Matsushita M, Kosaka K, Kondo H, Ishii T, Amano N (1989) Distribution and morphology of brain stem plaques in Alzheimer's disease. Acta Neuropathol 78:131–136
Kondo H, Haga C, Kito T, Kosaka K, Matsushita M (1987) The methenamine-Bodian staining for the demonstration of senile plaques. Byori-to-Rinsho 5:1365–1369
Kuramitsu M, Abe M, Yamada H, Nonaka Y, Kato M, Ogomori K, Ueda H (1989) Juvenile type of Alzheimer's disease confirmed by immunostaining: an autopsied case. Psychiat Neurol Jpn 91:1–15
Lewis DA, Campbell MJ, Terry RD, Morrison JH (1987) Laminar and regional distribution of neurofibrillary tangles and neuritic plaques in Alzheimer's disease: a quantitative study of visual and auditory cortices. J Neurosci 7 1799–1808
Lüers T (1947) Über die familiäre juvenile Form der Alzheimerschen Krankheit mit neurologischen Herderscheinungen. Arch Psychiatr Nervenkr 179:132–145
Matsuoka T, Miyoshi K, Saka K, Kawagoe T, Nishikiori T, Suzuki S, Hirabayashi M, Shisozuka T, Suda K Aoki A, Shimokawa K, Shiraki H (1967) A case of encephalopathy with plaque-like bodies, neurofibrillary change angiopathy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis-like lesions. Adv Neurol Sci 11:801–811
Ogomori K, Kitamoto T, Tateishi J, Sato Y, Suetsugu M, Abe M (1989) β-protein amyloid is widely distributed in the central nervous system of patients with Alzheimer's disease. Am J Pathol 134:243–251
Pearson RCA, Esiri MM, Hiorns RW, Wilcock GK, Powell TPS (1985) Anatomical correlates of the distribution of the pathological changes in the neocortex in Alzheimer's disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 82:4531–4534
Probst A, Brunnschweiler H, Lautenschlager C, Ulrich J (1987) A special type of senile plaque, possibly an initial stage. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 74:133–141
Rogers J, Morrison JH (1985) Quantitative morphology and regional and laminar distributions of senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease. J Neurosci 5:2801–2808
Rudelli RD, Ambler MW, Wisniewsky HM (1984) Morphology and distribution of Alzheimer neuritic (senile) and amyloid plaques in striatum and diencephalon. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 64:273–281
Wisniewsky HM, Wen GY, Kim KS (1989) Comparison of four staining methods on the detection of neuritic plaques. Acta Neuropathol 78:22–27
Wisniewsky HM, Bancher C, Barcikowska M, Wen GY, Currie J (1989) Spectrum of morphological appearance of amyloid deposits in Alzheimer's disease. Acta Neuropathol 78:337–347
Yamaguchi H, Hirai S, Morimatsu M, Shoji M, Ihara Y (1988) A variety of cerebral amyloid deposits in the brains of the Alzheimer-type dementia demonstrated by β-protein immunostaining. Acta Neuropathol 76:541–549
Yamaguchi H, Hirai S, Morimatsu M, Shoji M, Harigaya Y (1988) Diffuse type of senile plaques in the brains of Alzheimertype dementia. Acta Neuropathol 77:113–119
Yamamoto T, Hirano A (1986) A comparative study of modified Bielschowsky, Bodian and thioflavin S stains on Alzheimer's neurofibrillary tangles. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 12:3–9
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Iseki, E., Matsushita, M., Kosaka, K. et al. Morphological characteristics of senile plaques in familial Alzheimer's disease. Acta Neuropathol 80, 227–232 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00294638
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00294638