Zoli M, Agnati L F, Fuxe K, Zini I, Merlo Pich E, Grimaldi R, Härfstrand A, Goldstein M, Wikström A C, Gustafsson J A
Department of Human Physiology, University of Modena, Italy.
Neuroscience. 1988 Aug;26(2):479-92. doi: 10.1016/0306-4522(88)90163-7.
The phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase- and neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive nerve terminal profiles and the glucocorticoid receptor-immunoreactive nuclear profiles have been characterized in the parvocellular part of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus of the adult (3 month) and the old (24 month) male rat. The phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase-, neuropeptide Y- and glucocorticoid receptor-immunoreactive structures have been demonstrated by means of the indirect immunoperoxidase procedure and analysed in a quantitative way by means of morphometrical and microdensitometrical approaches using both semiautomatic and automatic image analysis. During aging there is (a) a marked reduction in the number of neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive profiles, a moderate reduction of phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase-immunoreactive profiles and a small reduction in the number of glucocorticoid receptor-immunoreactive profiles without a significant change in the evenness of distribution of such profiles as evaluated by means of Gini's index; (b) a loss of the significant correlation in the distribution of the glucocorticoid receptor- and phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase-immunoreactive profiles at the two most caudal levels analysed (A5150 and A5270 micron) while a significant correlation developed between these two distributions at a more rostral level (A5400 micron); (c) a substantial decline in the overlap area of the glucocorticoid receptor- and phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase-immunoreactive profiles at four out of five rostrocaudal levels analysed; (d) a marked reduction in the density-intensity of the neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive profiles and a small significant reduction in the density-intensity of the phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase-immunoreactive profiles without any associated changes in the intensity of the glucocorticoid receptor-immunoreactive profiles. Furthermore, three-dimensional reconstructions of the overall distribution of the glucocorticoid receptor-, phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase- and neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive structures have been made in the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus of the adult male rat. The present results indicate a reduction of neuropeptide Y- and phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase-immunoreactive nerve terminal profiles in the parvocellular part of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus during aging. These results may in part reflect a loss of neuropeptide Y-like peptides in phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase-immunoreactive nerve terminals of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus, favouring our view that during aging the modulatory peptides may be lost, leading to a loss of
在成年（3个月）和老年（24个月）雄性大鼠下丘脑室旁核小细胞部，对苯乙醇胺 - N - 甲基转移酶和神经肽Y免疫反应性神经终末轮廓以及糖皮质激素受体免疫反应性核轮廓进行了表征。通过间接免疫过氧化物酶法显示了苯乙醇胺 - N - 甲基转移酶、神经肽Y和糖皮质激素受体免疫反应性结构，并使用半自动和自动图像分析的形态计量学和显微密度计方法进行了定量分析。在衰老过程中，存在以下情况：（a）神经肽Y免疫反应性轮廓数量显著减少，苯乙醇胺 - N - 甲基转移酶免疫反应性轮廓适度减少，糖皮质激素受体免疫反应性轮廓数量略有减少，通过基尼指数评估，这些轮廓的分布均匀性无显著变化；（b）在分析的两个最尾端水平（A5150和A5270微米），糖皮质激素受体和苯乙醇胺 - N - 甲基转移酶免疫反应性轮廓的分布之间失去显著相关性，而在更靠前的水平（A5400微米），这两种分布之间形成了显著相关性；（c）在所分析的五个 rostrocaudal 水平中的四个水平上，糖皮质激素受体和苯乙醇胺 - N - 甲基转移酶免疫反应性轮廓的重叠面积大幅下降；（d）神经肽Y免疫反应性轮廓的密度强度显著降低，苯乙醇胺 - N - 甲基转移酶免疫反应性轮廓的密度强度略有显著降低，而糖皮质激素受体免疫反应性轮廓的强度无任何相关变化。此外，还对成年雄性大鼠下丘脑室旁核中糖皮质激素受体、苯乙醇胺 - N - 甲基转移酶和神经肽Y免疫反应性结构的整体分布进行了三维重建。目前的结果表明，在衰老过程中，下丘脑室旁核小细胞部神经肽Y和苯乙醇胺 - N - 甲基转移酶免疫反应性神经终末轮廓减少。这些结果可能部分反映了下丘脑室旁核苯乙醇胺 - N - 甲基转移酶免疫反应性神经终末中神经肽Y样肽的丧失，支持了我们的观点，即衰老过程中调节肽可能会丧失，导致……丧失
