6.5. TAXONOMICAL ANALYSIS OF SPIROCHETES ISOLATED AND CULTIVATED FROM THE ALZHEIMER BRAIN
Miklossy J, Kasas S, Janzer RC, Ardizzoni F, Van der Loos H. Further ultrastructural evidence that spirochaetes may play a role in the aetiology of Alzheimer's disease. 1994:5:1201-1204
Abstract
Recently it was reported that, at autopsy, in neuropathologically confirmed cases of Alzheimer's disease spirochaetes were found in blood and cerebrospinal fluid using dark-field microscopy. Moreover, the spirochaetes were isolated and cultured from brain tissue. We now show, using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy that the helically shaped microorganisms isolated and cultured from the Alzheimer brains possess axial filaments. This indicates that these microorganisms taxonomically indeed belong to the order Spirochaetales. A morphometric analysis reinforces this notion.
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.
