Familial parkinsonism and dementia with ballooned neurons, argyrophilic neuronal inclusions, atypical neurofibrillary tangles, tau-negative astrocytic fibrillary tangles, and Lewy bodies

• Published in: Acta neuropathologica Vol. 95; no. 1; pp. 15 - 27
• Main Authors: MIZUTANI, T, INOSE, T, NAKAJIMA, S, KAKIMI, S, UCHIGATA, M, IKEDA, K, GAMBETTI, P, TAKASU, T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Springer 01.01.1998; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Amygdala; Astrocytes - metabolism; Astrocytes - ultrastructure; Atrophy; Autonomic nervous system; Autopsy; Autosomal dominant inheritance; Basal ganglia; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - pathology; Brain diseases; Brain stem; Central nervous system diseases; Cerebral cortex; Cortex (temporal); Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Dementia; Dementia - pathology; Dementia - psychology; Dementia disorders; Dihydroxyphenylalanine; Female; Gliosis; Heredity; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Inclusion Bodies - metabolism; Inclusion Bodies - ultrastructure; Lewy bodies; Lewy Bodies - metabolism; Lewy Bodies - ultrastructure; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Movement disorders; Myoclonus; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurofibrillary tangles; Neurofibrillary Tangles - pathology; Neurological disorders; Neurology; Neurons; Neurons - physiology; Neurons - ultrastructure; Neuropil; Parkinson Disease - genetics; Parkinson Disease - pathology; Parkinson Disease - psychology; Parkinson's disease; Pedigree; Spinal Cord - pathology; Substantia nigra; Tau protein; tau Proteins - metabolism; Tubules; Human; Immunohistochemistry; Nervous system diseases; Family study; Parkinson disease; Male; Astrocyte; Electron microscopy; Neurofibrillary tangle; Cerebral disorder; Genetic disease; Case study; Pathology; Concomitant disease; Neuron; Central nervous system disease; Female; Degenerative disease; Argyrophilic granule; Extrapyramidal syndrome; Lewy body; Dementia
• ISSN: 0001-6322; 1432-0533
• DOI: 10.1007/s004010050761

We report four patients with a new type of familial parkinsonism and dementia consisting of an autosomal dominant inheritance, dopa-responsive parkinsonism, severe dementia, variable myoclonus and autonomic disturbances. Autopsy of two patients revealed symmetrical cerebral atrophy with fronto-temporal dominant distribution, and marked depigmentation in the substantia nigra and locus ceruleus. Neuronal loss and gliosis were observed in the deep cerebral cortex and amygdala as well as in the areas vulnerable to Parkinson's disease. In the cerebral cortex, swollen neurons with frequent granulovacuolar changes were observed, consisting of ballooned neurons and those with argyrophilic intracytoplasmic inclusions, in addition to neuropil threads. Atypical neurofibrillary tangles, which barely stained with tau antibodies, were numerous in the upper cortical layers, consisting of 15-nm straight tubules. In addition, tau-negative astrocytic fibrillary tangles were also frequent. Electron microscopically, the ballooned neurons and argyrophilic neuronal inclusions contained filamentous structures coated with fuzzy electron-dense deposits. The inclusions showed immunohistochemical features different from those of cortical Lewy bodies and Pick bodies. Occasional Lewy bodies were present in the brain stem lesions of both patients. In two of our patients, the pathology in the brain stem was similar to that of Parkinson's disease, whereas their cerebral pathology was unusual and has not been reported previously.