Departamento de Anatomía, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
PLoS One. 2012;7(6):e38692. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038692. Epub 2012 Jun 13.
Cell number alterations in the amygdaloid complex (AC) might coincide with neurological and psychiatric pathologies with anxiety imbalances as well as with changes in brain functionality during aging. This stereological study focused on estimating, in samples from 7 control individuals aged 20 to 75 years old, the number and density of neurons, glia and endothelial cells in the entire AC and in its 5 nuclear groups (including the basolateral (BL), corticomedial and central groups), 5 nuclei and 13 nuclear subdivisions. The volume and total cell number in these territories were determined on Nissl-stained sections with the Cavalieri principle and the optical fractionator. The AC mean volume was 956 mm(3) and mean cell numbers (x10(6)) were: 15.3 neurons, 60 glial cells and 16.8 endothelial cells. The numbers of endothelial cells and neurons were similar in each AC region and were one fourth the number of glial cells. Analysis of the influence of the individuals' age at death on volume, cell number and density in each of these 24 AC regions suggested that aging does not affect regional size or the amount of glial cells, but that neuron and endothelial cell numbers respectively tended to decrease and increase in territories such as AC or BL. These accurate stereological measures of volume and total cell numbers and densities in the AC of control individuals could serve as appropriate reference values to evaluate subtle alterations in this structure in pathological conditions.
杏仁核复合体 (AC) 中的细胞数量改变可能与焦虑失衡的神经和精神病理学以及衰老过程中大脑功能的变化有关。这项立体学研究专注于估计 7 名年龄在 20 至 75 岁的对照个体样本中，整个 AC 及其 5 个核团（包括基底外侧核 (BL)、皮质内侧核和中央核团）、5 个核和 13 个核亚区的神经元、神经胶质和内皮细胞的数量和密度。用尼氏染色的切片，通过 Cavalieri 原理和光学分选区来确定这些区域的体积和总细胞数。AC 的平均体积为 956mm³，平均细胞数（x10(6)）分别为：15.3 个神经元、60 个神经胶质细胞和 16.8 个内皮细胞。内皮细胞和神经元的数量在每个 AC 区域都相似，是神经胶质细胞数量的四分之一。分析个体死亡时的年龄对这些 24 个 AC 区域中的体积、细胞数和密度的影响表明，衰老不会影响区域大小或神经胶质细胞的数量，但神经元和内皮细胞数量分别趋于减少和增加，如 AC 或 BL 等区域。这些对对照个体 AC 中体积和总细胞数及密度的准确立体学测量可以作为评估该结构在病理条件下细微改变的适当参考值。
