Center-Specific Neuropathology Procedures Survey Erin M Pfeiffer 10 12 2002

Center-Specific Neuropathology Procedures Survey Erin M. Pfeiffer 10/12/2002 NACC National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center

Center-Specific Neuropathology Survey l Dr. Cochran, Dr. Dickson, Dr. Ghetti l Special Thanks – Dr. Jim Leverenz 10 -page detailed survey l 90. 6 % response rate (29/32 surveys) l Complete answers & thoughtful comments l NACC

Survey Form NACC

Survey Form NACC

Survey Form NACC

Survey Form NACC

General Questions: # NP-related data elements maintained in each Center’s Database # Variables Stored Count Percent 1 -25 5 18 % 26 -50 2 7% 51 -75 5 18 % 76 -100 5 18 % > 100 11 39 % Frequency Missing = 1 NACC

General Questions (cont’d) l > 90% maintaining data on: ; ; ; AD pathological dx Plaques/tangles PD pathological dx Lewy bodies Infarcts l ~ 46% maintain genetic data l ~ 62% collect circumstance of death (Including Centers who collect for some/not all subjects) NACC

Specimen and Tissue Preparation: # of Ce nt er s Postmortem Interval (hrs) NACC

Specimen and Tissue Preparation: Specimens Collected from Autopsy Percent of Centers Collecting Samples Specimen Type Fixed Paraffin Frozen None Hippocampus 86 % 100 % 93 % -- Temporal Cortex 86 % 100 % 90 % 3% Pituitary Gland 12 % 28 % 14 % 52 % 7% 7% 3% 93 % PNT* * PNT = Peripheral Nervous Tissue NACC

Specimen and Tissue Preparation: Cryoprotection l 40% store fixed tissue in cryoprotective solution l Average time tissue fixed prior to transfer to cryoprotective solution = 2 days l Cryoprotective solutions include: – 16% sucrose – 20% glycerol, 2% DMSO – Isopentane Liquid Nitrogen – Sucrose/ethylene glycol in phosphate buffer NACC

Specimen and Tissue Preparation: Biological Specimen Banking Biological Specimen Count Percent DNA 17 63 % Serum 13 48 % 8 30 % 1 4% 5 19 % Lymphocytes: Buffy Coat Lymphocytes: Lymphoblastoid ICL* Antemortem CSF * ICL = Immortalized Cell Lines Frequency Missing = 2 NACC

Histopathology: Stains l Stains for identifying beta-amyloid pathology – 69 % Silver Stain (e. g. Bielschowsky, Bodian, Campbell-Switzer, Microwave King, Gallyas) – 35 % Thioflavin-S – 24 % Congo Red – 72 % Aß immunostain (e. g. GFAP, Novocastra, DAKO monoclonal mouse) NACC

Histopathology: Stains l Stains for identifying neurofibrillary pathology – 76 % Silver Stain (e. g. Bielschowsky, Modified-Biel, Bodian, Microwave King, Gallyas) – 36 % Thioflavin-S – 83 % Tau immunostain (e. g. AT 8, PHF-1, ALZ-50, Tau-2) NACC

Neuropathology: Criteria AD Pathology Count Percent NIA/Reagan Institute 25 86 % CERAD 22 76 % ADRDA/Khachaturian 6 21 % Tierney -- -- Other * 5 17 % * Washington U modified Koch (1985), In house semi-quantitative methods, etc NACC

Neuropathology: Criteria FTD Pathology Work Group on FTD & Pi. D** Other Percent 9 32 % 19 68 % 4 Lund and Manchester* Count 14 % Frequency Missing = 1 * Lund and Manchester Groups. Clinical and neuropathological criteria for frontotemporal dementia. J of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Neuropsychiatry 1994: 416 -18 **Mc. Khann GM et al. Clinical and Pathological Diagnosis of Frontotemporal Dementia: report of the work group on frontotemporal dementia and Pick’s disease. Arch of Neurol 2001: 1803 -09 NACC

Additional Procedures: Performed on NP core tissue l Percentage of Centers that perform: – Immunoassays = 40% – In situ hybridization = 14% – Image analysis = 36% – Stereology = 25% – Microarray analysis = 32% NACC

Summary / Plans for NP Survey Data l Detailed summary of NP procedures & specific specimens available at each ADC l Dataset created - After NYC, contact a few ADCs for brief clarifications l Survey results will be available via NACC’s website l Data will be integrated into overall database (i. e. linked to MDS, Neuropathology data, other Centers data) l Thanks again! NACC

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