Eng L F, D'Amelio F E, Smith M E
Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, California 94305.
Glia. 1989;2(5):308-17. doi: 10.1002/glia.440020504.
Acute experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) in the Lewis rat is a cell-mediated autoimmune disease of central nervous system myelin. The lesion has been characterized by breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, edema, and periventricular infiltration of macrophages and lymphocytes. At the early stage of the disease, the astrocytes show a marked increase in immunostaining for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). A corresponding increase in GFAP content, however, cannot be demonstrated. Electron microscopic examination of the early lesion shows a typical reactive astrocytic response expressed by an enlarged watery cytoplasm, particularly at the level of the processes surrounding neurons and blood vessels and in the neuropil itself. The astroglial processes contain numerous glycogen particles (aggregates and single particles). Glial filaments are also conspicuous and are arranged in small bundles or loose thin filaments adjacent to the bundles. The glial filaments that normally appear as tight bundles have expanded and appear less dense. We suggest that the increase in GFAP immunostaining of the astrocytes in the early lesion is due in part to edema, which causes dissociation of the filaments and thereby exposes more antigenic sites to the antibodies.
Lewis大鼠的急性实验性变应性脑脊髓炎（EAE）是一种中枢神经系统髓鞘的细胞介导的自身免疫性疾病。该病变的特征是血脑屏障破坏、水肿以及巨噬细胞和淋巴细胞在脑室周围浸润。在疾病早期，星形胶质细胞的胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP）免疫染色显著增加。然而，无法证明GFAP含量相应增加。对早期病变的电子显微镜检查显示，典型的反应性星形胶质细胞反应表现为细胞质水样肿大，特别是在围绕神经元和血管的突起水平以及神经毡本身。星形胶质细胞突起含有大量糖原颗粒（聚集体和单个颗粒）。胶质丝也很明显，排列成小束或与束相邻的松散细丝。通常呈紧密束状的胶质丝已经扩张，密度降低。我们认为，早期病变中星形胶质细胞GFAP免疫染色增加部分是由于水肿，水肿导致细丝解离，从而使更多抗原位点暴露于抗体。
