Benarroch Eduardo E, Schmeichel Ann M, Low Phillip A, Parisi Joseph E
Department of Neurology, Mayo Foundation, Rochester, MN 55904, USA.
Brain. 2003 Oct;126(Pt 10):2183-90. doi: 10.1093/brain/awg220. Epub 2003 Aug 5.
We sought to determine whether there are neurokinin-1 receptor-like-immunoreactive (NK-1R-LI) neurons in human ventrolateral medulla and whether these neurons are more severely involved in multiple system atrophy (MSA) than in Parkinson's disease. Brains were obtained at autopsy from six control subjects, six subjects with clinical diagnosis of MSA and four with Parkinson's disease, both confirmed neuropathologically. Serial 50 microm cryostat sections were obtained throughout the medulla, and every eighth section was processed for NK-1R-LI neurons. Some sections were processed simultaneously for tyrosine hydroxylase or choline acetyltransferase. Abundant NK-1R-LI neurons were identified in the ventrolateral medulla. These neurons were distinct from local cholinergic or catecholaminergic neurons. There was a severe depletion of these NK-1R-LI neurons in all MSA cases compared with controls (6 +/- 1 cells/section versus 49 +/- 2 cells/section in controls). Although there was also a reduction in Parkinson's disease (20 +/- 2 cells/section), this was significantly less severe than in MSA. Our findings suggest that the human ventrolateral medulla contains NK-1R-LI neurons, and the more severe depletion in MSA than in Parkinson's disease may explain the higher incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular abnormalities in the former condition.
我们试图确定人类延髓腹外侧是否存在神经激肽-1受体样免疫反应性（NK-1R-LI）神经元，以及这些神经元在多系统萎缩（MSA）中是否比在帕金森病中受累更严重。从6名对照受试者、6名临床诊断为MSA的受试者和4名帕金森病受试者的尸检中获取大脑，所有病例均经神经病理学证实。在整个延髓制作连续的50微米冰冻切片，每隔八张切片用于检测NK-1R-LI神经元。一些切片同时用于检测酪氨酸羟化酶或胆碱乙酰转移酶。在延髓腹外侧发现了大量NK-1R-LI神经元。这些神经元与局部胆碱能或儿茶酚胺能神经元不同。与对照组相比，所有MSA病例中的这些NK-1R-LI神经元均严重减少（对照组为49±2个细胞/切片，MSA病例为6±1个细胞/切片）。虽然帕金森病中也有减少（20±2个细胞/切片），但程度明显不如MSA严重。我们的研究结果表明，人类延髓腹外侧含有NK-1R-LI神经元，MSA中比帕金森病中更严重的神经元减少可能解释了前者呼吸和心血管异常发生率较高的原因。
