Identification of advanced glycation end products of the Maillard reaction in Pick's disease

The recent identification of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) of the Maillard reaction in the central nervous system suggests their potential involvement in the aging process. Other studies have also suggested a possible link between AGEs and Alzheimer's disease. To investigate the role of AGEs in Pick's disease, another neurodegenerative disease associated with dementia, we examined the AGE-immunoreaction in Pick's bodies and ballooned neurons, two characteristic neuropathological features of Pick's disease, using antibodies against identified AGE-structures, N-epsilon-(carboxymethyl)lysine and pentosidine. These two structures were observed immunohistochemically in Pick's bodies and ballooned neurons of brain tissues obtained at autopsy from three elderly patients diagnosed with Pick's disease. These immunoreactions were further confirmed by absorption experiments and double-immunostaining. The present findings suggest that AGEs are involved in the pathology of Pick's disease.