Biomaterial Database

Senile plaques and tangles in dialysis dementia. 1981

A Brun, and M Dictor

The brains of 7 patients treated with hemodialysis were studied. Four of these patients had the dialysis encephalopathy syndrome (DES). Senile plaques and or neurofibrillary tangles were found in 5 of the 7 cases, 3 with and 2 without DES. One case of each group had plaques to an extent compatible with that in Alzheimer's disease, though of a different distribution. Neurofibrillary tangles were generally sparse. Plaques and tangles, both containing paired helical filaments, are the principal changes in Alzheimer's disease. Aluminum has been implicated as a possible etiologic agent behind the paired helical filaments in Alzheimer's disease, where raised cerebral aluminum contents have been demonstrated. Aluminum is known to be increased in the central nervous system also in DES, most likely as a consequence of procedures in connection with the hemodialysis. The finding of neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques in hemodialyzed patients, some of which have developed DES, may therefore support the theories concerning aluminum as an etiological agent for cerebral changes in Alzheimer's disease.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007676	Kidney Failure, Chronic	The end-stage of CHRONIC RENAL INSUFFICIENCY. It is characterized by the severe irreversible kidney damage (as measured by the level of PROTEINURIA) and the reduction in GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE to less than 15 ml per min (Kidney Foundation: Kidney Disease Outcome Quality Initiative, 2002). These patients generally require HEMODIALYSIS or KIDNEY TRANSPLANTATION.	ESRD,End-Stage Renal Disease,Renal Disease, End-Stage,Renal Failure, Chronic,Renal Failure, End-Stage,Chronic Kidney Failure,End-Stage Kidney Disease,Chronic Renal Failure,Disease, End-Stage Kidney,Disease, End-Stage Renal,End Stage Kidney Disease,End Stage Renal Disease,End-Stage Renal Failure,Kidney Disease, End-Stage,Renal Disease, End Stage,Renal Failure, End Stage
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
D009454	Neurofibrils	The delicate interlacing threads, formed by aggregations of neurofilaments and neurotubules, coursing through the CYTOPLASM of the body of a NEURON and extending from one DENDRITE into another or into the AXON.	Neurofibril
D009929	Organ Size	The measurement of an organ in volume, mass, or heaviness.	Organ Volume,Organ Weight,Size, Organ,Weight, Organ
D001921	Brain	The part of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM that is contained within the skull (CRANIUM). Arising from the NEURAL TUBE, the embryonic brain is comprised of three major parts including PROSENCEPHALON (the forebrain); MESENCEPHALON (the midbrain); and RHOMBENCEPHALON (the hindbrain). The developed brain consists of CEREBRUM; CEREBELLUM; and other structures in the BRAIN STEM.	Encephalon
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
D006435	Renal Dialysis	Therapy for the insufficient cleansing of the BLOOD by the kidneys based on dialysis and including hemodialysis, PERITONEAL DIALYSIS, and HEMODIAFILTRATION.	Dialysis, Extracorporeal,Dialysis, Renal,Extracorporeal Dialysis,Hemodialysis,Dialyses, Extracorporeal,Dialyses, Renal,Extracorporeal Dialyses,Hemodialyses,Renal Dialyses