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Updated: Jul 6, 2026
Abbiategrasso Brain Bank Protocol for Collecting, Processing and Characterizing Aging Brains
Published on: June 3, 2020
Systematic appraisal using immunohistochemistry of brain pathology in aged and demented subjects
Leena Aho1, Laura Parkkinen, Tuula Pirttila
1Department of Clinical Medicine, Unit of Neurology, Section of Neuropathology, Kuopio University, Kuopio, Finland.
Background/Aims:
Abnormal processing of hyperphosphorylated tau (HPtau), amyloid-beta (Abeta) and alpha-synuclein (alphaS) proteins is considered as causative with regard to the clinical symptoms in age-related neurodegenerative diseases.
Methods:
In this retrospective, postmortem study applying immunohistochemical methodology, we assessed Alzheimer's-disease (AD)-related HPtau and Abeta pathology in 178 subjects with alphaS pathology.
Results:
These pathologies were frequently seen concomitantly, i.e. HPtau in 83% and Abeta in 62% of the alphaS-positive cases. Furthermore, the striatum was frequently involved, particularly in subjects with cognitive impairment (65%). The predictive value of widespread HPtau pathology, i.e. stages V-VI, with respect to cognitive impairment was high, since all 18 subjects presenting with this stage were demented. In contrast, the predictive value of widespread alphaS pathology, i.e. stages 5-6 according to Braak's Parkinson disease staging, was debatable. Fifty-three percent of the subjects with widespread alphaS pathology and no or mild AD-related HPtau pathology were cognitively unimpaired. It is noteworthy that striatal Abeta pathology was more often seen in demented subjects independently of HPtau and/or alphaS status.
Conclusion:
The causative pathology in subjects with clinically diagnosed dementia with Lewy bodies needs to be clarified in future studies.
