Late onset GM2 gangliosidosis presenting with motor neuron disease: an autopsy case.

Adult-onset GM2 gangliosidosis is very rare and only three autopsy cases have been reported up to now. We report herein an autopsy case of adult-onset GM2 gangliosidosis. The patient developed slowly progressive motor neuron disease-like symptoms after longstanding mood disorder and cognitive dysfunction. He developed gait disturbance and weakness of lower limbs at age 52 years. Because of progressive muscle weakness and atrophy, he became bed-ridden at age 65. At age of 68, he died. His neurological findings presented slight cognitive disturbance, slight manic state, severe muscle weakness, atrophy of four limbs and no extrapyramidal signs and symptoms, and cerebellar ataxia. Neuropathologically, mild neuronal loss and abundant lipid deposits were noted in the neuronal cytoplasm throughout the nervous system, including peripheral autonomic neurons. The most outstanding findings were marked neuronal loss and distended neurons in the anterior horn of the spinal cord, which supports his clinical symptomatology of lower motor neuron disease in this case. The presence of lipofuscin, zebra bodies and membranous cytoplasmic bodies (MCB) and the increase of GM2 ganglioside by biochemistry led to diagnosis of GM2 gangliosidosis.

Biopterin levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with PARK8 (I2020T).

PARK8 is the most common form of familial Parkinson's disease (PD). We measured biopterin and monoamine metabolite levels in the cerebrospinal fluids of 7 PARK8 patients (I2020T mutation in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2), 2 asymptomatic mutation carriers, and 21 sporadic PD patients. The biopterin levels in PARK8 patients were significantly higher than those in sporadic PD patients, although the symptoms were comparable in both groups, suggesting that PARK8 patients exhibit parkinsonian symptoms with higher biopterin levels than sporadic PD patients.

Olfactory dysfunction in Parkinson's disease: Benefits of quantitative odorant examination.

Olfactory involvement is well recognized in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The purpose of this study was to examine smell function quantitatively, using different types and concentrations of odorants in PD patients. We aimed to elucidate whether a specific odor can affect the severity and duration of PD patients. A total of 89 nondemented PD patients and 20 age-matched controls participated in the study. Quantitative evaluation of smell function was performed using the T and T olfactometer test. This test contains five kinds of odorants at different concentrations. Recognition threshold (RT) scores for all five odorants and for each individual odorant were measured in five groups of PD patients with Hoehn and Yale (HY) stages I (n = 12), II (n = 24), III (n = 43), and IV (n = 10), as well as in control subjects (n = 20). One-way analysis of variance and Ryan's method were used for statistical comparison between the five groups. Compared with controls and HY I patients, total RT scores were significantly higher in HY II, III, and IV patients. There were no statistically significant differences in RT scores between HY I patients and controls. However, total RT scores for three HY I patients (25%) were higher than the mean + two standard deviations of controls. On single odorant testing, significant higher RT scores for methylcyclopentenolone and skatol were found in HY II, III, and IV patients, in comparison with controls and HY I patients. The remaining three odorants did not differ statistically between PD patients and control subjects. The present study indicated that hyposmia in PD patients increased from HY II onwards. A single odorant of methyl cyclopentenolone or skatol had benefits for olfactory evaluation in PD patients. Our data also clarified that olfactory deficits occurred in a subset of HY I patients. Further prospective study is needed to elucidate whether a distinct profile of PD exists between HY I patients with and without hyposmia.

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) with massive macrophage infiltration in the ponto-cerebellar afferent system.

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is characterized pathologically by a systemic degeneration of the olivopontocerebellar (OPC), striatonigral (SN) and autonomic systems. Massive glial cytoplasmic inclusions (GCIs) are specific for this disease. Massive lipid-laden macrophage infiltration in the degenerating tracts has not been described up to now. We here report a case of MSA with this rare event in the ponto-cerebellar (cerebellopetal) fibers. The patient, 54-year-old housewife, developed ataxia. At the age of 55 years, she was diagnosed as having MSA by cerebellar ataxia, extrapyramidal signs, autonomic failure and Horner syndrome. She died from asphyxia at the age of 57. The autopsy revealed OPC and SN system atrophy, degeneration and numerous GCIs, compatible with MSA. Numerous lipid-laden macrophages were seen in the pontine nuclei and its transverse fibers including the white matter of the cerebellum, which has not been reported up to now. There was no macrophage infiltration in the other areas. Transient ischemia, infarction and wallerian degeneration do not account for this rare event. The ponto-cerebellar (cerebellopetal) tract pathology, as observed by postmortem neuropathological study, may occur in the context of MSA.