String Vessel Formation is Increased in the Brain of Parkinson Disease.

Background: String vessels are collapsed basement membrane without endothelium and have no function in circulation. String vessel formation contributes to vascular degeneration in Alzheimer disease. By comparing to age-matched control cases we have recently reported endothelial degeneration in brain capillaries of human Parkinson disease (PD).

Vascular degeneration in Parkinson's disease.

Vascular degeneration plays a significant role in contributing to neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease. Our understanding of the vascular components in Parkinson's disease (PD) is however limited. We have examined the vascular morphology of human brain tissue from both PD and the control cases using immunohistochemical staining and image analysis.