title: Sparing of striatal neurons coexpressing calretinin and substance P (NK1) receptor in Huntington's disease.
abstract: Immunohistochemical studies of the striatum in normal human subjects with a double-antigen localization method have revealed the presence of large and medium-sized aspiny neurons displaying immunoreactivity for both the calcium-binding protein calretinin and substance P (neurokinin-1) receptor. These large and medium-sized cells from two distinct classes of striatal interneurons, which together represent less than 3% of the total neuronal population of the human striatum. Observations made in four cases of Huntington's disease revealed that such doubly labeled interneurons are still present in the striatum of these patients, despite the marked atrophy of the structure. This study provides the first evidence for the existence of interneurons containing calretinin and expressing tachykinin receptors in the human striatum. It also demonstrates the selective sparing of these chemospecific striatal neurons in Huntington's disease.
authors.affiliation: Centre de recherche en Neurobiologie, Hôpital de I'Enfant, Jésus, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cicchetti
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Gould
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parent
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D064032:Calbindin 2; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D006816:Huntington Disease / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007395:Interneurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018040:Receptors, Neurokinin-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C576764:CALB2 protein, human; D064032:Calbindin 2; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D018040:Receptors, Neurokinin-1; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G