Silver grain disease

In humans, silver grain disease is a dementia that starts late and is characterized by filamentous deposits in the brain. Since these inclusions can be represented with special silver plating techniques ( argyrophilicity ), they are also referred to as argyrophilic grain disease in English .

Gallays silver staining of brain tissue in an autopsy case of silver grain disease. The inclusions are black due to their argyrophilicity

The average age at the onset of the disease is 80 years. The patients show behavioral problems such as restlessness, outbursts of violence, inadequate social behavior; cognitive limitations only follow in the further course. The deposits are mainly found in the frontal or temporal lobes of the brain. They appear as spindle-like to comma-like 4–9 µm inclusions in nerve cell processes or oligodendroglia . The main component of these inclusions consists of the hyperphosphorylated protein tau including exon 10 ( 4 repeat tau ). Since silver grains can also occur in combination with Alzheimer's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy or corticobasal degeneration , they are observed in up to 5% of dementias depending on the interpretation of the classification. Some authors see the silver grain disease as a special form of Alzheimer's disease.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ M. Tolnay, AU Monsch, HB Staehelin, A. Probst: Argyrophilic grain disease: differentiation from Alzheimer disease . In: Pathologist . 20, No. 3, May 1999, pp. 159-168. PMID 10412175 .

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