Further analyses using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) showed that the helically shaped microorganisms isolated and cultivated from the brains of AD patients possess axial filaments, indicating that taxonomically they belong to the order Spirochaetales (Miklossy et al., 1994) and that they may correspond to several types of spirochetes.

Scanning electron microscopy analysis of the spirochetes isolated from the brains of AD patients showingt that taxonomically the helically shaped microorganisms belong to the order Spirochaetales as they possess endoflagella (B, C) elevating the outre sheet and  fixed at both ends of the bacterial cell with insertion pores (D). Miklossy et al., 1994, NeuroReport.

Schaema showing the endeflagella and insertion pores taxonomically distinguishing spirochetes from all other bacteria