Elsevier

Neurobiology of Aging

Volume 20, Issue 1, January–February 1999, Pages 53-56
Neurobiology of Aging

Articles
Cerebral amyloid angiopathy in an aged great spotted woodpecker (Picoides major)

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0197-4580(99)00004-4Get rights and content

Abstract

A male great spotted woodpecker (Picoides major), which was at least 16 years old, died due to general weakening. Cerebral vascular walls, including capillaries, were positively stained with Congo red with green-gold birefringence, and some of which showed a severe deposition of the Congophilic materials resulting in a corona-like fibrillar radiating structure. The Congophilic materials were positive for β amyloid protein, but negative for prion protein. Only a few senile plaque-like structures were observed in the cortex by PAM stain and β amyloid immunostain. The present case is the first observation of cerebral amyloid angiopathy in avian species and will indicate the presence of such age-related cerebral lesions also in birds.

Introduction

In the brain of elderly people, several senescence specific histopathological lesions are observed with or without dementia; those are senile plaques, amyloid angiopathy, and cortical atrophy resulted from depletion of neurons [1], [3], [8]. The spontaneous senescence-related neuronal lesions such as senile plaques and amyloid angiopathy have been reported also in nonhuman mammarian species, such as monkey [12], [13], [30], dog [5], [9], [21], [24], [25], [26], bear [4], [19], [22], [27], cat [6], [14], camel [15], wolverine [17], and coyote [20]. Furthermore, a few reviews treat with comparative aspects of cerebral amyloid angiopathy and senile plaques in aged monkeys and dogs [29], [31]. In avian species, however, there have been no reports on the senescence-related lesions. We observed cerebral amyloid angiopathy and senile plaque-like structures in a great spotted woodpecker (Picoides major) and describe the histopathological and immunohistochemical features of the lesions.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

A male great spotted woodpecker (Picoides major), which had been caught at the Fuji University Forest of the University of Tokyo and kept in a cage for 16 years, died due to general weakening. Formalin-fixed paraffin sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE), periodic acid methenamine silver (PAM), and Congo red.

Selected sections were immunostained using monoclonal antibodies, 4G8 and 6E10 (Senescence technology, Maryland Heights, MO), and a polyclonal antidody, anti-β amyloid,

Results

Grossly, atrophy of the major organs and ocular cataract were observed at autopsy. The brain showed no atrophic change and appeared to be normal. Histopathologically, the cerebral cortex showed high cellularity characterized by abundant GFAP positive cells. Vascular walls, including capillaries, in the cortex were thickened according to the deposition of pale acidophilic material on HE sections. The material was positively stained with Congo red and showed green-gold birefringence by

Discussion

The age-related cerebral lesions such as senile plaques and amyloid angiopathy were observed in a variety of nonhuman mammarian species [4], [5], [6], [9], [12], [13], [14], [15], [17], [19], [20], [21], [22], [24], [25], [26], [27], [30]. There are, however, no reports on the lesions in avian species. The present case is the first presentation of cerebral amyloid angiopathy and senile plaque-like structure in avian species. The age of 16 years might be very aged in the woodpecker though the

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Ken Ishida, University Forest, The University of Tokyo, for providing the sample and Dr. Wolter Bodermer, German Primate Center, Goettingen, Germany, for providing antibodies against prion protein.

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