Age-related loss of galanin-immunoreactive cells in the rat septal area.
We have examined the distribution of galanin-like immunoreactive (LI) cell bodies in the medial septal nucleus (MS) and the nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca (nDBB) of young (3 months) and aged (25-30 months) rats, and assessed their respective contribution to the septohippocampal pathway. Immunohistochemical techniques were used alone or combined with the retrograde transport of a protein-gold complex injected into the dorsal hippocampus. In both groups, galanin-LI cells were observed in the MS and the nDBB. In aged rats, a significant decrease in both the staining intensity and the number of galanin-LI perikarya throughout the MS-nDBB complex was observed. Some immunoreactive cells appeared shrunken. The reduction in cell number ranged from 30 to 85%. There was also a decrease in the proportion of septohippocampal neurons containing galanin in aged rats (13% vs 20% in young animals) which however did not reach statistical significance. These results suggest that galanin-positive cells in the medial septal area undergo alterations with aging in the rat.
Senut
M C
MC
Laboratoire de Physiopharmacologie du Système Nerveux, INSERM U 161, Paris, France.
de Bilbao
F
F
Lamour
Y
Y
D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D019004:Galanin; D007158:Immunologic Techniques; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000378:metabolism; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012686:Septal Nuclei / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*
D010455:Peptides; D019004:Galanin