Tau immunohistochemistry in acute brain injury

• Published in: Neuropathology and applied neurobiology 2003-10, Vol.29 (5), p.496-502
• Main Authors: Smith, C., Graham, D. I., Murray, L. S., Nicoll, J. A. R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer's disease; Biological and medical sciences; Brain Injuries - metabolism; Brain Injuries - pathology; Child; Child, Preschool; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Infant; Injuries of the nervous system and the skull. Diseases due to physical agents; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neurofibrillary Tangles - metabolism; Neurology; Neuropil Threads - metabolism; tau; tau Proteins - metabolism; Traumas. Diseases due to physical agents; traumatic brain injury
• ISSN: 0305-1846; 1365-2990
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2990.2003.00488.x

Epidemiological studies have identified a history of head injury as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. However, the neuropathological mechanism underlying this relationship is as yet unclear. Neuronal cytoskeletal changes in the form of neurofibrillary tangles and neuropil threads have recently been demonstrated in young men who had sustained repetitive head injury and subsequently died in their 20s. In addition, recent experimental studies have found accumulation of tau within neuronal somata and damaged axons following diffuse brain injury. We hypothesized that tau‐immunoreactive tangles may be present in the brains of patients who died after a single acute blunt head injury. A total of 45 cases of fatal head injury were immunostained for tau. They comprised nine groups (n = 5 for each group) separated by age (0–19 years, 20–50 years, 50 + years) and survival time (