Myllykangas, I.-L. Notkola, T. Polvikoski, R. Sulkava, H. Kalimo and A. Paetau (2012) Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology38, 329–336 Prevalence and severity of cerebral amyloid angiopathy: a population-based

study on very elderly Finns (Vantaa 85+) Background: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is frequent in patients with Alzheimer’s disease while its prevalence in different populations is variable. We investigated the prevalence and severity of CAA in a very elderly Finnish population. Methods: Neuropathological investigation was performed on 306 subjects from the population-based Vantaa 85+ Study (253 women, 53 men, mean age at death 92.3 years). The presence of CAA was analysed in six brain regions by using Congo red and immunohistochemistry with an antibody against amyloid beta peptide. The severity of CAA was assessed by counting the percentage of the CAA-positive blood vessels. Results: In total, 69.6% of the participants XL184 cell line (170 women, 43 men) had CAA, with median severity of 1.0%, inter-quartile range (IQR) 0–5.4% and range 0–72.7%. CAA was more prevalent (81.1% vs. 67.2%; P = 0.046)

mTOR inhibitor and severe (median 2.7%, IQR 0.4–7.5%, range 0–72.7%) in the men than in the women (median 1.0%, IQR 0–4.6%, range 0–52.8%; P = 0.004). Parietal lobe showed the highest prevalence (57.8%) whereas the severity was highest (median 1.0%, IQR 0–6.0%, range 0–77%) in the frontal lobe. Prevalence of CAA in the six regions was variable, but the severity indices between those regions correlated highly (P < 0.001 for all regions). Meningeal CAA was more prevalent (69.5%) Branched chain aminotransferase than cortical (59.3%; P < 0.001). Conclusion: CAA was highly prevalent, albeit mild, in the very old. The prevalence and severity

of CAA were found to be highest in the frontal and parietal lobes respectively – independent of the staining method used (Congo red or amyloid beta peptide). “
“The paired box gene 8 (PAX8) plays crucial roles in organ patterning and cellular differentiation during development and tumorigenesis. While its function is partly understood in vertebrate development, there is poor data concerning human CNS development and brain tumors. We investigated developing human (n=19) and mouse (n=3) brains as well as medulloblastomas (n=113) for PAX8 expression by immunohistochemistry. Human medulloblastoma cell lines were assessed for PAX8 expression using PCR and immunoblotting and analysed for growth and migration following PAX8 knockdown by siRNA. PAX8 protein expression was associated with germinal layers in human and murine forebrain and hindbrain development. PAX8 expression significantly decreased over time in the external granule cell layer, but increased in the internal granule cell layer. In medulloblastoma (MB) subtypes we observed an association of PAX8 expression with SHH (sonic hedgehog) and WNT subtypes but not with group 3 and 4 MBs. Beyond that, we detected high PAX8 levels in desmoplastic MB subtypes.