title: The effect of chronic hydergine treatment on the plasticity of synaptic junctions in the dentate gyrus of aged rats.
abstract: The number of synapses (Nv), the surface density of contact zones (Sv) as well as the average size (S) of E-PTA stained synapses in the supragranular layer of the dentate gyrus from adult (12 months), old (30 month), and Hydergine-treated old (30 months) rats were measured by using quantitative morphometric techniques. In old animals, Nv and Sv were significantly reduced, whereas S was significantly increased as compared with the values in adult rats. Hydergine (Codergocrine mesylate) treatment of old animals (3 mg/Kg/day for 4 weeks) influenced these three parameters, differentially. The Sv in aged animals receiving Hydergine, relative to that in untreated old rats, was significantly increased; the number and size of synapses in the treated old rats were significantly higher and smaller, respectively, than that in old controls. We interpret the present findings to indicate a modulating effect of Hydergine on the morphological plasticity of synaptic junctions in the dentate gyrus of aged rats.
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D004088:Dihydroergotoxine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects*; D009411:Nerve Endings / Q000187:drug effects; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D013569:Synapses / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D004088:Dihydroergotoxine