The activation pattern of macrophages in giant cell (temporal) arteritis and primary angiitis of the central nervous system.

To determine if the pattern of macrophage activation reflects differences in the pathogenesis and clinical presentation of giant cell arteritis and primary angiitis of the central nervous system, specimens of 10 patients with giant cell arteritis and five with primary angiitis of the central nervous system were immunohistochemically studied and the expression of the macrophage activation markers 27E10, MRP14, MRP8 and 25F9 was determined in the vasculitic infiltrates. Thus, a partly different expression pattern of macrophage activation markers in giant cell arteritis and primary angiitis of the central nervous system was observed. The group comparison revealed that giant cell arteritis cases had significantly higher numbers of acute activated MRP14-positive macrophages, whereas primary angiitis of the central nervous system is characterized by a tendency toward more MRP8-positive intermediate/late activated macrophages.

Involvement of macroautophagy in multiple system atrophy and protein aggregate formation in oligodendrocytes.

α-Synuclein-containing glial cytoplasmic inclusions (GCIs) originating in oligodendrocytes are the characteristic hallmark for neuropathological diagnosis of multiple system atrophy (MSA). α-Synuclein can be degraded either by the proteasomal machinery or by autophagy, a lysosomal pathway which involves the formation of autophagosomes. The autophagosome takes up polyubiquitinated proteins via the autophagosomal protein LC3 and the ubiquitin binding protein p62.

Annexin-1 is no useful surrogate marker of multiple sclerosis - an immunocytochemical study of the cerebrospinal fluid.

Objective: Annexin-1 is a calcium-binding protein with anti-inflammatory properties, which has previously been described in MS plaque tissue. We investigated the feasibility and specificity of annexin-1-immuncytochemistry of CSF cells to test its potential as a surrogate marker for MS.

Materials And Methods: CSF-specimens of 49 MS cases with different courses and 94 control cases were immunocytochemically studied with a monoclonal antibody to annexin-1.

Primary intradural chordoma: report on three cases and review of the literature.

Objective: Chordomas are rare malignant bone tumors of the skull base or sacrococcygeal region. They derive from notochordal remnants and usually have a chronic progressive course. Even rarer, intradural chordomas with a better biological behavior have also been reported.

Microvasculopathic neuromuscular diseases: lessons from hypoxia-inducible factors.

Dermatomyositis and vasculitic neuropathies are disorders with immune mediated ischemic injuries. Cellular responses to hypoxia include the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1)-induced transcription of genes involved in angiogenesis. To study their possible roles in those disorders, the immunohistochemical expression of HIF-1alpha, HIF-1beta, HIF-2alpha, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), VEGF-receptor (VEGF-R) and erythropoietin-receptor was investigated.