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Distinctive pattern of Bergmann glial pathology in human hepatic encephalopathy

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Molecular and Chemical Neuropathology

Abstract

Alzheimer type II astrocytosis is the pathological hallmark of hepatic encephalopathy. These astrocytes undergo a characteristic morphological change and, in addition, lose immunoreactivity for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). However, a previous study in the portacaval shunted rat, a model of hepatic encephalopathy, revealed increased rather than decreased GFAP immunoreactivity in Bergmann glia, a specialized group of cerebellar astrocytes. In the present study, sections of cerebellar vermis from 15 cirrhotic patients with hepatic encephalopathy and varying degrees of Alzheimer type II astrocytosis were stained using antisera to GFAP. The Bergmann glial cells did not show altered GFAP immunoreactivity compared to controls. In addition, the degree of GFAP immunoreactivity was not correlated with the degree of Alzheimer type II change nor related to the aetiology of the liver disease. These results suggest a differential response of Bergmann glia in human hepatic encephalopathy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Education and Research on Ageing, Concord Hospital, 2139, Concord

    Jillian J. Kril

  2. Department of Pathology, The University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, Australia

    Jillian J. Kril & Dimity Flowers

  3. Neuroscience Research Unit, Hôpital St-Luc, 1058 St Denis St, H2X 3J4, Montréal, Canada

    Roger F. Butterworth

Authors
  1. Jillian J. Kril
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  2. Dimity Flowers
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  3. Roger F. Butterworth
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Correspondence to Jillian J. Kril.

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Kril, J.J., Flowers, D. & Butterworth, R.F. Distinctive pattern of Bergmann glial pathology in human hepatic encephalopathy. Molecular and Chemical Neuropathology 31, 279–287 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02815130

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02815130

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