Loss of myelin-associated glycoprotein in kearns-sayre syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To explore myelin components and mitochondrial changes within the central nervous system in patients with well-characterized mitochondrial disorders due to nuclear DNA or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations.
DESIGN: Immunohistochemical analysis, histochemical analysis, mtDNA sequencing, and real-time and long-range polymerase chain reaction were used to determine the pathogenicity of mtDNA deletions.
SETTING: Department of Clinical Pathology, Columbia University Medical Center, and Newcastle Brain Tissue Resource. PATIENTS: Seventeen patients with mitochondrial disorders and 7 controls were studied from August 1, 2009, to August 1, 2010. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Regions of myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) loss.
RESULTS: Myelin-associated glycoprotein loss in Kearns-Sayre syndrome was associated with oligodendrocyte loss and nuclear translocation of apoptosis-inducing factor, whereas inflammation, neuronal loss, and axonal injury were minimal. In a Kearns-Sayre syndrome MAG loss region, high levels of mtDNA deletions together with cytochrome- c oxidase-deficient cells and loss of mitochondrial respiratory chain subunits (more prominent in the white than gray matter and glia than axons) confirmed the pathogenicity of mtDNA deletions.
CONCLUSION: Primary mitochondrial respiratory chain defects affecting the white matter, and unrelated to inflammation, are associated with MAG loss and central nervous system demyelination.