AMYOTROPHIC-LATERAL-SCLEROSIS - OCCURRENCE OF BUNINA BODIES IN THE LOCUS-CERULEUS PIGMENTED NEURONS

Bunina bodies, which are small eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion s, have been considered to be specific for amyotrophic lateral scleros is (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease of unknown cause in adults . They are found usually in the remaining lower motor neurons. We enco untered a 66-year-old woman with sporadic ALS showing Bunina body-like eosinophilic inclusions in the cytoplasm of some pigmented neurons in the otherwise intact locus ceruleus (LC). Ultrastructural examination of the LC confirmed that a few pigmented neurons actually contained i nclusions identical to Bunina bodies. The finding indicates that Bunin a bodies can occur in LC pigmented neurons and suggests that LC may al so be involved in the disease process in ALS,