Lewy bodies described; tied to the substantia nigra

The research record

This is the project's file for this landmark, as written and checked. Sources are listed at the end; anything not yet confirmed is marked "Not yet verified".

Who

Friedrich H. Lewy (Berlin, 1912), Gonzalo R. Lafora (Madrid, 1913) and Konstantin N. Trétiakoff (Paris, thesis 1919).

What happened

Lewy's 1912 book chapter described inclusions in neurons of people with "paralysis agitans". He found them in the vagus nucleus, Meynert's nucleus (nucleus basalis) and the paraventricular thalamic nucleus, not in the substantia nigra; except in a minority of cases and in post-encephalitic parkinsonism, he did not confirm that the nigra mattered. In 1913 Lafora acknowledged the finding and named the structures "cuerpos intracelulares de Lewy" (Lewy bodies), describing them in the vagus, facial and oculomotor nuclei of one Parkinson's case. Trétiakoff's 1919 Paris thesis studied the substantia nigra (locus niger) in Parkinson's patients, reported neuron loss, and named the eosinophilic inclusions "corps de Lewy". He gave the substantia nigra its central role in the disease. The thesis was never published as a book, though often cited.

Why it moved us toward a cure

It gave the field a signature of the disease (the inclusion) and a place where the damage is concentrated (the nigra). Both ideas still guide drug targets and trials. The inclusion was only later shown to be built of alpha-synuclein (landmark 5).

Outcome

Advanced. Both findings stand. Who coined the name is contested: Engelhardt's historical note treats Lafora (1913) and Trétiakoff (1919) as rival namers, and Holdorff et al. argue Trétiakoff's role was long underestimated.

Sources

• Engelhardt E, "Lafora and Trétiakoff: the naming of the inclusion bodies discovered by Lewy", Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2017;75(10), DOI 10.1590/0004-282X20170116 (cites Lewy, "Paralysis agitans. 1. Pathologische Anatomie", in Lewandowsky's Handbuch der Neurologie vol. III, 1912, pp. 920–33; Lafora, Trab Lab Invest Biol Univ Madrid 1913;11:29–42; Trétiakoff, Paris thesis no. 293, 1919)
• Holdorff B, Rodrigues e Silva AM, Dodel R, "Centenary of Lewy bodies (1912-2012)", J Neural Transm 2013;120:509-516, DOI 10.1007/s00702-013-0984-2, PMID 23456291 (abstract)
• Lees AJ et al., "The black stuff and Konstantin Nikolaevich Tretiakoff", Mov Disord 2008;23:777-783, DOI 10.1002/mds.21855, PMID 18383531 (abstract)
• Not yet verified: the original 1912, 1913 and 1919 texts (read only through Engelhardt's note and the abstracts above); Lees et al. beyond its abstract.