Chung Yoon Hee, Kim Daejin, Lee Keum Jung, Kim Sung Su, Kim Kyung Yong, Cho Dai-Yun, Sohn Dong Suep, Lee Won Bok
Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Dongjak-Gu, Seoul, 156-756, Korea,
J Mol Histol. 2005 Jun;36(5):325-9. doi: 10.1007/s10735-005-9001-x. Epub 2005 Oct 21.
Despite in vivo studies suggesting an important function for nitric oxide (NO) in the spinal cord in the transmission of pain signals, sympathetic nerve activity and presumably other spinal functions, changes of neuronal NO synthase (nNOS)-containing neurons with aging in the spinal cord has not been investigated. In the present study, we demonstrated for the first time that the number of nNOS-immunoreactive neurons was significantly decreased in the central autonomic nucleus and the superficial dorsal horn of spinal cord in aged rats. Morphologically, the number and length of dendritic branches also seemed to be decreased. Combined with our previous studies, age-related decreases in the number of nNOS-immunoreactive neurons in the central autonomic nucleus and the superficial dorsal horn might be associated with the abnormality of micturition function or pain perception encountered in the elderly. However, the mechanisms underlying the decreased immunoreactivity for nNOS, and the functional implications require elucidation.
尽管体内研究表明一氧化氮（NO）在脊髓传递疼痛信号、交感神经活动以及可能的其他脊髓功能中具有重要作用，但尚未对脊髓中含神经元型一氧化氮合酶（nNOS）的神经元随衰老的变化进行研究。在本研究中，我们首次证明，老年大鼠脊髓的中央自主核和浅表背角中nNOS免疫反应性神经元的数量显著减少。在形态学上，树突分支的数量和长度似乎也有所减少。结合我们之前的研究，中央自主核和浅表背角中nNOS免疫反应性神经元数量的年龄相关性减少可能与老年人排尿功能异常或疼痛感知有关。然而，nNOS免疫反应性降低的潜在机制及其功能意义仍需阐明。
