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Spongiform-like changes in Alzheimer's disease. An ultrastructural study
Acta Neuropathologica
|January 1, 1982
Summary
Mild vacuolization in Alzheimer's disease (AD) cortex is not a neuropathologic link to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). This non-specific finding in AD neuropil lacks the prominent spongiform changes seen in CJD.
Area of Science:
- Neuropathology
- Neurodegenerative Diseases
- Electron Microscopy
Background:
- Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) are distinct neurodegenerative disorders.
- Ultrastructural similarities between AD and CJD have been occasionally reported.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the ultrastructural morphology of cortical vacuoles in Alzheimer's disease (AD).
- To compare these findings with those observed in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).
- To determine if observed vacuoles represent a neuropathologic link between AD and CJD.
Main Methods:
- Ultrastructural examination of cortical biopsies.
- Comparison of neuropathologic findings in patients with sporadic or familial AD, age-matched controls, and normal pressure hydrocephalus.
Main Results:
- Occasional vacuoles with morphology similar to CJD were observed in the neuropil of AD cortical biopsies.
- Spongiform-like changes were mild and less prominent than in CJD.
- Curled membrane fragments within vacuoles, characteristic of CJD, were absent in AD.
Conclusions:
- The mild vacuolization observed in AD neuropil is a non-specific finding.
- These vacuoles do not represent a neuropathologic link between Alzheimer's disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.