Tau epitopes in spinal cord neurofibrillary lesions in Chamorros of Guam.

We examined spinal cord sections from Guamanian Chamorros with or without amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or parkinsonism-dementia complex using immunohistochemistry and antibodies to epitopes that span the length of tau to characterize the tau epitope profile of neurofibrillary tangles in these spinal cords. Most (16/20) spinal cords, including some from Chamorros without documented clinical disease, contained tangles with a tau epitope profile similar to the tangles found in the forebrain and brain stem of these patients.