Vanderhorst V G J M, Terasawa E, Ralston H J
Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Kirstein 406, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Neuroscience. 2009 Jan 23;158(2):798-810. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2008.10.017. Epub 2008 Oct 17.
The distribution pattern of estrogen receptors in the rodent CNS has been reported extensively, but mapping of estrogen receptors in primates is incomplete. In this study we describe the distribution of estrogen receptor alpha immunoreactive (ER-alpha IR) neurons in the brainstem and spinal cord of the rhesus monkey. In the midbrain, ER-alpha IR neurons were located in the periaqueductal gray, especially the caudal ventrolateral part, the adjacent tegmentum, peripeduncular nucleus, and pretectal nucleus. A few ER-alpha IR neurons were found in the lateral parabrachial nucleus, lateral pontine tegmentum, and pontine gray medial to the locus coeruleus. At caudal medullary levels, ER-alpha IR neurons were present in the commissural nucleus of the solitary complex and the caudal spinal trigeminal nucleus. The remaining regions of the brainstem were devoid of ER-alpha IR neurons. Spinal ER-alpha IR neurons were found in laminae I-V, and area X, and were most numerous in lower lumbar and sacral segments. The lateral collateral pathway and dorsal commissural nuclei of the sacral cord and the thoracic intermediolateral cell column also contained ER-alpha IR neurons. Estrogen treatment did not result in any differences in the distribution pattern of ER-alpha IR neurons. The results indicate that ER-alpha IR neurons in the primate brainstem and spinal cord are concentrated mainly in regions involved in sensory and autonomic processing. Compared with rodent species, the regional distribution of ER-alpha IR neurons is less widespread, and ER-alpha IR neurons in regions such as the spinal dorsal horn and caudal spinal trigeminal nucleus appear to be less abundant. These distinctions suggest a modest role of ER-alpha in estrogen-mediated actions on primate brainstem and spinal systems. These differences may contribute to variations in behavioral effects of estrogen between primate and rodent species.
啮齿动物中枢神经系统中雌激素受体的分布模式已有广泛报道，但灵长类动物中雌激素受体的图谱尚不完整。在本研究中，我们描述了恒河猴脑干和脊髓中雌激素受体α免疫反应性（ER-α IR）神经元的分布。在中脑，ER-α IR神经元位于导水管周围灰质，特别是尾侧腹外侧部分、相邻的被盖、脚周核和顶盖前核。在外侧臂旁核、脑桥外侧被盖和蓝斑内侧的脑桥灰质中发现了少数ER-α IR神经元。在延髓尾侧水平，ER-α IR神经元存在于孤束核的连合核和尾侧三叉神经脊束核。脑干的其余区域没有ER-α IR神经元。脊髓ER-α IR神经元见于I-V层和X区，在腰下部和骶段数量最多。骶髓的外侧副通路和背连合核以及胸段中间外侧细胞柱也含有ER-α IR神经元。雌激素处理并未导致ER-α IR神经元的分布模式出现任何差异。结果表明，灵长类动物脑干和脊髓中的ER-α IR神经元主要集中在参与感觉和自主神经处理的区域。与啮齿类动物相比，ER-α IR神经元的区域分布范围较窄，脊髓背角和尾侧三叉神经脊束核等区域的ER-α IR神经元似乎较少。这些差异表明ER-α在雌激素对灵长类动物脑干和脊髓系统的作用中发挥的作用较小。这些差异可能导致灵长类动物和啮齿类动物之间雌激素行为效应的变化。
