Clustering of neuronal inclusions in dementia with neurofilament inclusions

Dementia with neurofilament inclusions (DNI) is a new disorder characterized clinically by early-onset dementia and histologically by the presence of intraneural inclusions immunopositive for neurofilament antigens but lacking tau and alpha-synuclein reactivity. We studied the clustering patterns of the neurofilament inclusions (NI) in regions of the temporal lobe in three cases of DNI to determine whether they have the same spatial patterns as inclusions in the tauopathies and alpha-synucleinopathies. The NI exhibited a clustered distribution (mean size of clusters 400 mum, range 50-800 mum, SD 687.8) in 24/28 of the areas studied. In 22 of these areas, the clusters exhibited a regular distribution along the tissue parallel to the pia mater or alveus. In 3 cortical areas, there was evidence of a more complex pattern in which the NI clusters were aggregated into larger superclusters. In 6 cortical areas, the size of the clusters approximated to those of the cells of origin of the cortico-cortical pathways but in the remaining areas cluster size was smaller than 400 mum. Despite the unique molecular profile of the NI, their spatial patterns are similar to those shown by filamentous neuronal inclusions in the tauopathies and alpha-synucleinopathies.