Byne W, Lasco M S, Kemether E, Shinwari A, Edgar M A, Morgello S, Jones L B, Tobet S
Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
Brain Res. 2000 Feb 21;856(1-2):254-8. doi: 10.1016/s0006-8993(99)02458-0.
The four interstitial nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus (INAH) have been considered as candidate human nuclei for homology with the much studied sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area of the rat. Assessment of the INAH for sexual dimorphism has produced discrepant results. This study reports the first systematic examination of all four INAH in the human for sexual variation in volume, neuronal number and neuronal size. Serial Nissl-stained coronal sections through the medial preoptic area and anterior hypothalamus were examined from 18 males and 20 females who died between the ages of 17 and 65 without evidence of hypothalamic pathology or infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. A computer-assisted image-analysis system and commercial stereology software package were employed to assess total volume, neuronal number and mean neuronal size for each INAH. INAH3 occupied a significantly greater volume and contained significantly more neurons in males than in females. No sex differences in volume were detected for any of the other INAH. No sexual variation in neuronal size or packing density was observed in any nucleus. The present data corroborate two previous reports of sexual dimorphism of INAH3 but provide no support for previous reports of sexual variation in other INAH.
下丘脑前部的四个间质核（INAH）被认为是与大鼠视前区中经过大量研究的性二态核具有同源性的人类核团候选者。对INAH进行性二态性评估产生了不一致的结果。本研究报告了对人类所有四个INAH进行的首次系统性检查，以探究其在体积、神经元数量和神经元大小方面的性别差异。对18名男性和20名女性（年龄在17岁至65岁之间死亡，无下丘脑病理学证据或人类免疫缺陷病毒感染）的视前区内侧和下丘脑前部的连续尼氏染色冠状切片进行了检查。采用计算机辅助图像分析系统和商业体视学软件包来评估每个INAH的总体积、神经元数量和平均神经元大小。与女性相比，男性的INAH3体积明显更大，神经元数量也明显更多。其他任何INAH均未检测到体积上的性别差异。在任何核团中均未观察到神经元大小或堆积密度的性别差异。目前的数据证实了之前关于INAH3性二态性的两份报告，但不支持之前关于其他INAH存在性别差异的报告。
