Biomaterial Database

Spongiform-like changes in Alzheimer's disease. An ultrastructural study. 1982

G L Mancardi, and T I Mandybur, and B H Liwnicz

THe ultrastructural study of the cortex of four patients with sporadic or familial AD, of two age-matched controls without dementia, and of one normal pressure hydrocephalus, revealed in all the cases in the neuropil only occasional vacuoles which had a morphology similar to those observed in CJD. The degree of spongiform-like changes was, however, far less prominent than in CJD and considered mild in all the cases examined. Moreover, curled fragments of membranes within the vacuoles were not observed. It is suggested that the mild vacuolization of the neuropil occasionally observed in cortical biopsies of AD is a non-specific finding and cannot be considered a neuropathologic link between AD and CJD.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007562	Creutzfeldt-Jakob Syndrome	A rare transmissible encephalopathy most prevalent between the ages of 50 and 70 years. Affected individuals may present with sleep disturbances, personality changes, ATAXIA; APHASIA, visual loss, weakness, muscle atrophy, MYOCLONUS, progressive dementia, and death within one year of disease onset. A familial form exhibiting autosomal dominant inheritance and a new variant CJD (potentially associated with ENCEPHALOPATHY, BOVINE SPONGIFORM) have been described. Pathological features include prominent cerebellar and cerebral cortical spongiform degeneration and the presence of PRIONS. (From N Engl J Med, 1998 Dec 31;339(27))	New Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease,Spongiform Encephalopathy, Subacute,CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease),Creutzfeldt Jacob Disease,Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease,Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Familial,Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, New Variant,Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Variant,Familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease,Jakob-Creutzfeldt Disease,Jakob-Creutzfeldt Syndrome,V-CJD (Variant-Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease),Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease,CJD (Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease),Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease,Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, Familial,Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, New Variant,Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease, Variant,Creutzfeldt Jakob Syndrome,Creutzfeldt-Jakob Diseases, Familial,Disease, Creutzfeldt Jacob,Disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob,Disease, Familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob,Disease, Jakob-Creutzfeldt,Encephalopathies, Subacute Spongiform,Encephalopathy, Subacute Spongiform,Familial Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease,Familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob Diseases,Jacob Disease, Creutzfeldt,Jakob Creutzfeldt Disease,Jakob Creutzfeldt Syndrome,New Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease,Spongiform Encephalopathies, Subacute,Subacute Spongiform Encephalopathies,Subacute Spongiform Encephalopathy,Syndrome, Creutzfeldt-Jakob,Syndrome, Jakob-Creutzfeldt,V CJD (Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease),Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease
D008297	Male		Males
D008854	Microscopy, Electron	Microscopy using an electron beam, instead of light, to visualize the sample, thereby allowing much greater magnification. The interactions of ELECTRONS with specimens are used to provide information about the fine structure of that specimen. In TRANSMISSION ELECTRON MICROSCOPY the reactions of the electrons that are transmitted through the specimen are imaged. In SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY an electron beam falls at a non-normal angle on the specimen and the image is derived from the reactions occurring above the plane of the specimen.	Electron Microscopy
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D002540	Cerebral Cortex	The thin layer of GRAY MATTER on the surface of the CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES that develops from the TELENCEPHALON and folds into gyri and sulci. It reaches its highest development in humans and is responsible for intellectual faculties and higher mental functions.	Allocortex,Archipallium,Cortex Cerebri,Cortical Plate,Paleocortex,Periallocortex,Allocortices,Archipalliums,Cerebral Cortices,Cortex Cerebrus,Cortex, Cerebral,Cortical Plates,Paleocortices,Periallocortices,Plate, Cortical
D003704	Dementia	An acquired organic mental disorder with loss of intellectual abilities of sufficient severity to interfere with social or occupational functioning. The dysfunction is multifaceted and involves memory, behavior, personality, judgment, attention, spatial relations, language, abstract thought, and other executive functions. The intellectual decline is usually progressive, and initially spares the level of consciousness.	Senile Paranoid Dementia,Amentia,Familial Dementia,Amentias,Dementia, Familial,Dementias,Dementias, Familial,Dementias, Senile Paranoid,Familial Dementias,Paranoid Dementia, Senile,Paranoid Dementias, Senile,Senile Paranoid Dementias
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000368	Aged	A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available.	Elderly
D000544	Alzheimer Disease	A degenerative disease of the BRAIN characterized by the insidious onset of DEMENTIA. Impairment of MEMORY, judgment, attention span, and problem solving skills are followed by severe APRAXIAS and a global loss of cognitive abilities. The condition primarily occurs after age 60, and is marked pathologically by severe cortical atrophy and the triad of SENILE PLAQUES; NEUROFIBRILLARY TANGLES; and NEUROPIL THREADS. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, pp1049-57)	Acute Confusional Senile Dementia,Alzheimer's Diseases,Dementia, Alzheimer Type,Dementia, Senile,Presenile Alzheimer Dementia,Senile Dementia, Alzheimer Type,Alzheimer Dementia,Alzheimer Disease, Early Onset,Alzheimer Disease, Late Onset,Alzheimer Sclerosis,Alzheimer Syndrome,Alzheimer Type Senile Dementia,Alzheimer's Disease,Alzheimer's Disease, Focal Onset,Alzheimer-Type Dementia (ATD),Dementia, Presenile,Dementia, Primary Senile Degenerative,Early Onset Alzheimer Disease,Familial Alzheimer Disease (FAD),Focal Onset Alzheimer's Disease,Late Onset Alzheimer Disease,Primary Senile Degenerative Dementia,Senile Dementia, Acute Confusional,Alzheimer Dementias,Alzheimer Disease, Familial (FAD),Alzheimer Diseases,Alzheimer Type Dementia,Alzheimer Type Dementia (ATD),Alzheimers Diseases,Dementia, Alzheimer,Dementia, Alzheimer-Type (ATD),Familial Alzheimer Diseases (FAD),Presenile Dementia,Sclerosis, Alzheimer,Senile Dementia