Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Jelke Building, Suite #1000; 1750 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
J Neurol. 2019 Jan;266(1):174-182. doi: 10.1007/s00415-018-9118-y. Epub 2018 Nov 16.
This study examined the relation between lumbar spinal motor neuron (SMN) indices and motor function proximate to death in community-dwelling older adults. Older adults (N = 145) participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project underwent structured clinical testing proximate to death and brain and spinal cord autopsy at time of death. Ten motor performances were summarized by a composite global motor score. Choline acetyltransferase immunostaining was used to identify spinal motor neurons of the L4/5 segment. SMN counts and area and ventral horn area were collected. Linear regression modeling showed that the association of SMN counts and density with global motor scores proximate to death varied with sex. Separate models in men and women showed that this significant interaction was due to the association of higher SMN counts and density with higher global motor scores proximate to death in men but not women. These associations were unchanged when we controlled for indices of brain pathologies or chronic health conditions. In 38 cases with counts of activated microglia available, higher counts of activated microglia were associated with lower SMN counts. Activated spinal microglia and loss of spinal motor neurons may contribute to motor impairments in older men.
本研究探讨了社区居住的老年人群中腰椎运动神经元（SMN）指标与接近死亡时运动功能的关系。参与 Rush 记忆与衰老项目的老年人（N=145）在接近死亡时接受了结构化的临床测试，并在死亡时进行了大脑和脊髓尸检。通过综合的总体运动评分来总结 10 项运动表现。使用胆碱乙酰转移酶免疫染色来识别 L4/5 节段的脊髓运动神经元。收集 SMN 计数、面积和腹角面积。线性回归模型表明，SMN 计数和密度与接近死亡时的总体运动评分的相关性因性别而异。男女的单独模型表明，这种显著的相互作用是由于男性中较高的 SMN 计数和密度与较高的接近死亡时的总体运动评分相关，而女性则没有。当我们控制大脑病理或慢性健康状况的指标时，这些关联仍然存在。在有 38 例可获得激活小胶质细胞计数的情况下，较高的激活小胶质细胞计数与较低的 SMN 计数相关。激活的脊髓小胶质细胞和脊髓运动神经元的丧失可能导致老年男性的运动障碍。
