Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Experimental Approaches for Biochemical Analysis of Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein and Its Disease-associated Variants
Published on: November 28, 2025
A Rosenthal fiber encephalomyelopathy resembling Alexander's disease in 3 sheep
A E Kessell1, J W Finnie, J Manavis
1Gribbles Veterinary Pathology, VETLAB, 33 Flemington Street, Glenside, SA 5065, Australia. allan.kessell@gribbles.com.au
Abstract:
We report an encephalomyelopathy in three 18-month-old Merino sheep with features of adult-onset Alexander's disease (AD), a human primary astrocytic disorder. The signature histologic finding was the presence of numerous hypereosinophilic, intra-astrocytic inclusions (Rosenthal fibers), mainly in perivascular, subpial, and subependymal sites, especially in the caudal brain stem and spinal cord. Although AD usually results from mutations in the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) gene, no such mutation was detected in these sheep. However, the annual clinical presentation of this disorder in a few sheep in the affected flock is suggestive of a familial pattern of occurrence.
Related Concept Videos
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Rabies
Amyloid Fibrils
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen. In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining, normally used to...
Hepatic Encephalopathy

