Expression of α ⁃synuclein in the spinal cord of Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

Objective To investigate the characteristics of α⁃synucleinopathy in the spinal cord of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods HE staining and immunohistochemistry staining were used to determine the expression of α⁃synuclein in the spinal cord (T2, T8, T10, L 2 and S 2 segments) of 3 patients with AD, one of them was an Alzheimer's disease with Lewy bodies (ADLB) patient. Seven age⁃ matched non⁃dementia and non⁃neurological diseases patients served as controls. Results α⁃synuclein positive structures were found in dorsal nucleus of vagus nerve (DNVN) of medulla oblongata, red nucleus (RN) of midbrain and spinal cord of ADLB patient. Lewy body (LB) and dispersed Lewy neurites (LN) were encountered in the intermediolateral column of lateral horn in thoracic cord and the anterolateral of ventral gray in sacral cord of the former cases. Conclusion Lewy body and Lewy neurites with positive expression of α ⁃ synuclein can be seen in spinal cord of ADLB patients, and it seems to be positive correlated with α⁃synucleinopathy in brains. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2010.04.019

Keywords

• Alzheimer disease
• Spinal cord
• Lewy body disease
• Immunohistochemistry