Oxytocin cell number in the human paraventricular nucleus remains constant with aging and in Alzheimer's disease.
Total cell numbers in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) were previously shown to remain unaltered with aging and in AD. The aim of the present study was to determine the aging pattern of the oxytocin (OXT) cell population in the PVN. For this purpose, the number of immunocytochemically identified oxytocin cells was determined in the PVN of the human hypothalamus in 20 control subjects ranging in age from 15 to 90 years and in 10 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients aged 46 to 97 years. The results show that the number of OXT cells in the PVN is similar in males and females and remains unaltered in senescence and AD. It is concluded that the remarkable stability of the PVN in these conditions also applies for the subpopulation of OXT cells in this nucleus and that reports in the literature on diminished OXT secretion in AD do not seem to be based on a decrease in the number of OXT expressing neurons from the PVN.
Wierda
M
M
Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, Amsterdam.
Goudsmit
E
E
Van der Woude
P F
PF
Purba
J S
JS
Hofman
M A
MA
Bogte
H
H
Swaab
D F
DF
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000502:physiology*; D010286:Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology*
D010121:Oxytocin