Local administration of amyloid enhancing factor initiates in situ amyloid A deposition followed by systemic lesions in mice

Amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis is experimentally transmissible in some animal species, such as mice and chickens. While the spleen is important as the initial deposition site in the transmission of AA amyloidosis, it is not essential for establishing the transmission, and its role is not precisely understood. In this study, to clarify why the spleen is the first site of deposition in transmissible AA amyloidosis, we administered amyloid enhancing factor, which is AA fibrils extracted from AA amyloidosis affected mouse to local organs (liver, spleen, kidney, stomach wall, and Peyer’s patches), to tail vein and into peritoneum; then compared the amyloid distribution. Interestingly, initial amyloid deposition was observed at the administration site in each administered organ, not just the spleen. Furthermore, the amount of amyloid deposition in intra-organ administration groups was larger than that of the intravenous or intraperitoneal administration groups. This study indicates that locally exposed AEF initiates in situ amyloid deposition, from which amyloid deposition spreads throughout the body.