Demonstration and distribution of tau-positive glial coiled body-like structures in white matter and white matter threads in early onset Alzheimer's disease.

The present report concerns the demonstration and distribution of tau-positive structures in the frontal and temporal white matter of five autopsy cases of early onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). The relationship between white matter lesions and tau positive structures was also investigated. Five early onset AD brains, which had not only unambiguous white matter lesions, but also no or rare atherosclerosis and minimal amyloid angiopathy, were examined. There were several tau-positive coiled body-like structures and many thread-like structures in the white matter, although previous reports showed only a few coiled bodies in the white matter in the AD brain. No relationship was found between the degree of each white matter lesion and number or distribution of tau-positive structures in the white matter. The results suggest that the AD brain has tau-positive structures in the white matter similar to some neurodegenarative brain diseases such as progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal degeneration, and dementia with grains. However, tau abnormalities may have fewer effects when they are located in white matter lesions in AD.