Summary
Submicroscopic localization of acid phosphatase activity within the senile plaques was studied in two cases of Alzheimer's presenile dementia. The enzymatic activity seen in the plaque seems to be largely localized within the dense bodies in the distended axons and dendrites. The lysosomal nature of these bodies is, therefore, suggested. On the basis of striking morphological and histochemical resemblance of the changes seen in axons and dendrites in senile plaques to those seen in early Wallerian degeneration, formation of the plaque is hypothesized as secondary to a proximal degeneration in the neuronal perikaryon, possibly related to the neurofibrillary tangle of Alzheimer.
Zusammenfassung
Die submikroskopische Lokalisation der sauren Phosphatase-Aktivität in senilen Plaques wurde bei zwei Fällen von Alzheimers präseniler Demenz untersucht. Die in den Plaques vorhandene Enzymaktivität scheint hauptsächlich innerhalb der “dense bodies” in den erweiterten Axonen und Dendriten lokalisiert zu sein. Die lysosomale Natur dieser Körperchen ist daher anzunehmen. Auf Grund der offenbaren morphologischen und histochemischen Ähnlichkeit der Veränderungen in Axonen und Dendriten von senilen Plaques mit denen in Frühstadien der Wallerschen Degeneration wird die Bildung der Plaques hypothetisch als Sekundärfolge einer proximalen Degeneration des neuronalen Perikaryons in möglicher Beziehung zur Alzheimerschen Neurofibrillenveränderung angenommen.
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This investigation was supported by grants NB-02255, NB-03356 and 5 T 1 NB 5275-from the National Institutes of Health, U.S.A.
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Suzuki, K., Terry, R.D. Fine structural localization of acid phosphatase in senile plaques in Alzheimer's presenile dementia. Acta Neuropathol 8, 276–284 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00688828
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00688828