Ikemoto Keiko, Nishimura Akiyoshi, Oda Tatsuro, Nagatsu Ikuko, Nishi Katsuji
Clinical Research Institute, National Minami Hanamaki Hospital, Hanamaki, Iwate, 025-0033, Japan.
Leg Med (Tokyo). 2003 Mar;5 Suppl 1:S221-4. doi: 10.1016/s1344-6223(02)00117-7.
The human striatum, especially its ventral part, the nucleus accumbens, contains numerous neurons immunoreactive for aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC, the second-step monoamine synthesizing enzyme, =DDC: dopa decarboxylase), but not for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH, the first-step catecholamine synthesizing enzyme) or tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH, the first-step serotonin synthesizing enzyme) (Neurosci Lett 232 (1997) 111-114). These AADC (+)/TH (-)/TPH (-) neurons are named as D-neurons (Jaeger CB, Ruggiero DA, Albert VR, Joh TH, Reis DJ. Immunocytochemical localization of aromatic-L-amino acid decarboxylase. In: Bjorklund A, Hokfelt T, editors. Classical transmission in the CNS, Part I, Handbook of chemical neuroanatomy, vol. 2. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1984. pp. 387-418). The nucleus accumbens is one of the brain regions that is involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. We examined the distribution of striatal D-neurons using AADC immunohistochemistry and postmortem brains obtained by legal and pathological autopsies (nine controls (27-75 years old) and nine schizophrenics (32-78 years old), postmortem interval to fixation (PMI): 2-30 h). Because the number of AADC-positive neurons per section had a tendency to reduce in the case with longer PMI, we analyzed specimens of five controls (27-64 years old) and six schizophrenics (51-78 years old) in which the PMI was less than 8 h. The number of AADC-positive neurons was reduced in the striatum of schizophrenics compared to that of controls. The reduction was significant in the nucleus accumbens (P<0.05, t-test). D-Neurons might be involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Further studies using sex-, age- and PMI-matched controls are essential.
人类纹状体，尤其是其腹侧部分伏隔核，含有大量对芳香族L-氨基酸脱羧酶（AADC，第二步单胺合成酶，=DDC：多巴脱羧酶）免疫反应阳性的神经元，但对酪氨酸羟化酶（TH，第一步儿茶酚胺合成酶）或色氨酸羟化酶（TPH，第一步5-羟色胺合成酶）免疫反应阴性（《神经科学快报》232 (1997) 111 - 114）。这些AADC(+)/TH(-)/TPH(-)神经元被命名为D神经元（耶格尔CB、鲁杰罗DA、阿尔伯特VR、约翰TH、里斯DJ。芳香族L-氨基酸脱羧酶的免疫细胞化学定位。见：比约克隆德A、霍克费尔特T编。中枢神经系统的经典传递，第一部分，化学神经解剖学手册，第2卷。阿姆斯特丹：爱思唯尔，1984年。第387 - 418页）。伏隔核是参与精神分裂症发病机制的脑区之一。我们使用AADC免疫组织化学和通过合法及病理尸检获得的死后大脑（9例对照者（27 - 75岁）和9例精神分裂症患者（32 - 78岁），死后至固定的间隔时间（PMI）：2 - 30小时）检查了纹状体D神经元的分布。由于每切片AADC阳性神经元数量在PMI较长的情况下有减少趋势，我们分析了PMI小于8小时的5例对照者（27 - 64岁）和6例精神分裂症患者（51 - 78岁）的标本。与对照者相比，精神分裂症患者纹状体中AADC阳性神经元数量减少。伏隔核中的减少具有显著性（P<0.05，t检验）。D神经元可能参与了精神分裂症的发病机制。使用性别、年龄和PMI匹配的对照者进行进一步研究至关重要。
