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Hirano bodies are intracellular aggregates of actin and actin-associated proteins first observed in neurons by Asao Hirano in 1965. The eponym ‘Hirano bodies’ was not introduced until 1968, by Schochet et al., three years after Hirano first observed the proteins.
Hirano bodies are found in the nerve cells of individuals afflicted with certain neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease.
Hirano bodies were first described in the CA1 in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism-dementia complex. Hirano bodies are found mostly in the neuronal processes in the pyramidal layer in the Sommer’s sector of the hippocampus, mostly arising from age related changes in the microfilament system. Hirano bodies are often described as rod-shaped, crystal-like, and eosinophilic. They are frequently seen in hippocampal pyramidal cells. An experimental model of Hirano body formation has been reported, using a genetically altered strain of the slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum.
Hirano bodies have been noted as a function of age without obvious underlying neurodegeneration.