The parkinsonian symptoms observed in Monkey T were more likely attributable to widespread tau pathology in the brainstem rather than overt degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system. This case represents a rare instance of spontaneous tauopathy in an aged cynomolgus macaque, a condition that is extremely difficult to reproduce experimentally. These findings highlight the potential value of cynomolgus macaques as a relevant model for studying sporadic tauopathies, including tau seeding mechanisms.
Takahashi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.