Immunohistochemical studies on clustered pericapillary bodies in the spinal cord of post-poliomyelitis patients.

This report concerns the study of clustered pericapillary bodies in the spinal cords of four post-poliomyelitis patients. All four had stable neurological deficits without new neurological symptoms after the initial poliomyelitis infection. Spinal cords from seven individuals who died of non-neurological disorders served as controls. Lumbar spinal segments were examined by using conventional staining procedures and immunohistochemical techniques. The histological features of the pericapillary structures were similar to those of the previously described pericapillary rosettes. The number of pericapillary bodies was strikingly greater in one post-poliomyelitis patient (a man who died at age 48) than in the other three. The great majority of the pericapillary structures were within the areas of the poliomyelitis lesions. A small number of the abnormal structures were detected in the lumbar spinal cord of three control individuals. The clustered pericapillary bodies were immunostained by antibodies to phosphorylated neurofilament, synaptophysin, and ubiquitin, but not by antibodies to glial fibrillary acidic protein, tau protein, and paired helical filaments. These results indicate that the structures may derive from presynaptic terminals and preterminal axons, and that their formation may be related, albeit not necessarily in a specific fashion, to the poliomyelitis disease process.