Fontana Paula Andrea, Barbeito Claudio Gustavo, Goya Rodolfo Gustavo, Gimeno Eduardo Juan, Portiansky Enrique Leo
Institute of Pathology, School of Veterinary Sciences, National University of La Plata, La Plata 1900, Argentina.
J Chem Neuroanat. 2009 Mar;37(2):98-104. doi: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2008.11.001. Epub 2008 Nov 19.
Aging is a process associated with both anatomical changes and loss of expression of some cell markers. Intermediate filaments are known to impart mechanical stability to cells and tissues. Some of them are present in different cell populations of the central nervous system. In order to explore the impact of extreme age we immunohistochemically characterized the changes in intermediate filaments and other cellular markers present in cells populating the gray matter cervical spinal cord of very old rats (28 months) taking young (5 months) counterparts as a reference. The spinal cord weight of the senile animals (12.6+/-1.1 g) was significantly higher (P<0.001) than that of the young animals (8.4+/-1.1 g). Spinal cord length also increased significantly (P<0.05) with age (7.9+/-0.3 cm vs. 8.28+/-0.1 cm for young and senile, respectively). An increase in both neurofilament staining area and density was observed in senile rats in comparison to young animals. A significant (P<0.05) age-related increment in the mean area of the cervical segments was observed. Vimentin expression in the ependymal zone decreased in area and intensity during aging. Our data show that there are some significant changes in the morphological and histochemical patterns of the cervical spinal cord in senile rats. However, they do not necessarily represent a pathologic situation and may rather reflect plastic reorganization.
衰老过程与解剖学变化以及某些细胞标志物表达的丧失相关。已知中间丝赋予细胞和组织机械稳定性。其中一些存在于中枢神经系统的不同细胞群体中。为了探究高龄的影响，我们采用免疫组织化学方法对老龄大鼠（28个月）颈髓灰质中细胞内中间丝及其他细胞标志物的变化进行了表征，以年轻（5个月）大鼠作为对照。老龄动物的脊髓重量（12.6±1.1 g）显著高于年轻动物（8.4±1.1 g，P<0.001）。脊髓长度也随年龄显著增加（P<0.05）（年轻和老龄大鼠分别为7.9±0.3 cm和8.28±0.1 cm）。与年轻动物相比，老龄大鼠的神经丝染色面积和密度均增加。观察到颈段平均面积有显著的（P<0.05）与年龄相关的增加。室管膜区波形蛋白的表达在衰老过程中面积和强度均降低。我们的数据表明，老龄大鼠颈髓的形态学和组织化学模式存在一些显著变化。然而，它们不一定代表病理状况，而可能反映了可塑性重组。
