Laminar Distribution of the Pathological Changes in Sporadic and Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. (25th November 2010)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Armstrong, R. A.
• Other Names: Shankar S. K. Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: Pathology research international. Volume 2011(2011)
• Publication Date: 2010-11-25
• Subjects: Pathology -- Periodicals; 571.905
• DOI: 10.4061/2011/236346
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2090-8091

Abstract

Abstract : The laminar distributions of the pathological changes in the cerebral cortex were compared in the prion diseases sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) and variant CJD (vCJD). First, in some cortical regions, the vacuolation ("spongiform change" ) was more generally distributed across the cortex in sCJD. Second, there was greater neuronal loss in the upper cortex in vCJD and in the lower cortex in sCJD. Third, the "diffuse" and "florid" prion protein (PrP sc ) deposits were more frequently distributed in the upper cortex in vCJD and the "synaptic" deposits in the lower cortex in sCJD. Fourth, there was a significant gliosis mainly affecting the lower cortex of both disorders. The data suggest that the pattern of cortical degeneration is different in sCJD and vCJD which may reflect differences in aetiology and the subsequent spread of prion pathology within the brain.