Lewy bodies in Parkinson's disease are recognized by antibodies to complement proteins.

The substantia nigra (SN) in 11 Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and 5 neurologically normal controls was examined immunohistochemically using antibodies to various proteins of the complement system. In PD, but not in control SN, intra- and extraneuronal Lewy bodies and dendritic spheroid bodies were stained with anti-human C3d, C4d, C7 and C9 antibodies, but not with antibodies to C1q, fraction Bb of factor B or properdin. Axonal spheroid bodies in the nigrostriatal tract were not stained by any of the complement antibodies. However, complement-activated oligodendroglia were revealed by anti-C3d and anti-C4d antibodies in the PD substantia nigral area. These data indicate that some pathological structures in PD activate the classical complement pathway.