Streit Wolfgang J, Sammons Nicole W, Kuhns Amanda J, Sparks D Larry
Department of Neuroscience, PO Box 100244, University of Florida College of Medicine, Building 59, 100 Newell Drive, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
Glia. 2004 Jan 15;45(2):208-12. doi: 10.1002/glia.10319.
We have studied microglial morphology in the human cerebral cortex of two nondemented subjects using high-resolution LN-3 immunohistochemistry. Several abnormalities in microglial cytoplasmic structure, including deramification, spheroid formation, gnarling, and fragmentation of processes, were identified. These changes were determined to be different from the morphological changes that occur during microglial activation and they were designated collectively as microglial dystrophy. Quantitative evaluation of dystrophic changes in microglia revealed that these were much more prevalent in the older subject (68-year-old) than in the younger one (38-year-old). Thus, we conclude that microglial dystrophy is a sign of microglial cell senescence. We hypothesize that microglial senescence could be important for understanding age-related declines in cognitive function.
我们使用高分辨率LN-3免疫组织化学技术，研究了两名非痴呆受试者大脑皮质中的小胶质细胞形态。在小胶质细胞的细胞质结构中发现了几种异常情况，包括去分支化、球体形成、扭曲以及突起的碎片化。这些变化被确定与小胶质细胞激活过程中发生的形态变化不同，它们被统称为小胶质细胞营养不良。对小胶质细胞营养不良变化的定量评估显示，这些变化在老年受试者（68岁）中比在年轻受试者（38岁）中更为普遍。因此，我们得出结论，小胶质细胞营养不良是小胶质细胞衰老的一个标志。我们推测，小胶质细胞衰老对于理解与年龄相关的认知功能下降可能很重要。
