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A case of motor neuron disease (MND) with pallido-luysio-nigral atrophy (PLNA) is reported. The 45-year-old male patient presented with lower motor neuron symptoms and signs of basal ganglia disturbance. He died after a progressive course of 7 months. Neuropathological examination revealed motor neuron loss at all spinal cord levels with sparing of Onuf's nucleus. Nerve cell loss and gliosis were also present in substantia nigra, globus pallidus, and subthalamic nucleus. The presence of ubiquitin-positive inclusions, a hallmark of most variants of MND, confirms this case as an example of MND. At immunoelectron microscopy the granules were distributed on filamentous material. The combination of clinically apparent PLNA with MND has only been described twice previously. The relationship of this syndrome to other forms of MND and its nosological placement are discussed.

The occurrence and the distribution of GAGs have been studied histochemically in 224 human cerebral tumors by means of Alcian blue techniques. In the normal peritumoral gray matter the alcianophilia is stronger than in the white matter and demonstrated the presence of HA and CS. In the glioma group the alcianophilia, due to HA and CS, is mainly related to the presence of infiltrated cortex. In the other tumors, GAGs are histochemically disclosed in relation to collagen, reticulin, mesodermic areas, etc. The vessels of every tumor show a positive staining for HA, CS and HS. The histochemical findings are consistent with the biochemical ones as reported in Part I, even though the significance of GAGs in cerebral tumors remains unknown.

GFAP, Factor VIII/RAg, laminin, and fibronectin were immunohistochemically investigated in 15 glioblastomas and 15 gliosarcomas . GFAP was found variably positive in the glial areas. F VIII/RAg characterizes the endothelial cells and in gliosarcomas suggests the origin of the sarcomatous component from the endothelial proliferations. Laminin separates the two components and characterizes the inner and the outer basement membranes in the vessels. It is multiplied and thickened in endothelial proliferations, while it is often fragmented in the larger vessel wall proliferations. Our observations confirm that gliosarcoma represents the last stage of a process which starts with the endothelial hyperplasia of glioblastoma.