Glial Response and Neuroinflammation in Cerebrocortical Atrophy in a Young Irish Wolfhound Dog

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Neuroinflammation is considered a reaction of the nervous system itself to protect and repair structural changes developed in it. Despite its initial positive purpose, sometimes it can produce worse consequences for the tissue. In this article, we present a case of an Irish Wolfhound dog suffering a rare idiopathic neurodegenerative disease producing wide cerebral cortical damage with loss of neuronal bodies in a bilateral and symmetrical pattern. We have studied the glial components of the neuroinflammation developed describing how they have exacerbated the nervous tissue damage. ABSTRACT: A two-year-old, Irish Wolfhound dog presented with a history of progressive neurological signs. Neurological exam revealed disorientation, absence of menace response, reduction of right nasal sensation, hypermetria and ataxia with reduction of proprioception in all four limbs. MRI findings were compatible with laminar neuronal necrosis and possible bilateral cortical cerebral atrophy. Grossly, a severe bilateral reduction of the gray matter with flattening of gyri, mainly in frontal and parietal cerebral areas, was observed. Histologically, multiple, segmental, bilateral, and symmetric areas of neuronal loss, necrosis and degeneration, in a laminar pattern, associated with a reactive gliosis were observed. Immunohistochemical studies showed severe reduction of neuronal bodies, proliferation and hypertrophy of astrocytes and microglia. Few perivascular B and T cells were demonstrated. Based on these data, we show some of the neuroinflammatory events that occur during CNS repair in a chronic phase of this condition.