title: Somatostatin binding sites in the white matter of the developing human brainstem: inverse relationship with the myelination process.
abstract: The ontogeny of somatostatin binding sites was studied in eight fiber tracts of the human lower brainstem in 18 fetuses and infants aged from 21 weeks postconceptional to 6 months postnatal, and in two adults. The study was performed by means of quantitative autoradiography using [125I-Tyr0,DTrp8]somatostatin-14 as a radioligand. For all structures examined, the highest densities of binding sites were detected in the younger stages and the density of sites decreased during development. These results reveal the existence of a close inverse relationship between the density of somatostatin receptors and the myelination process in the fiber tracts of the human brainstem.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D001345:Autoradiography; D001665:Binding Sites / Q000502:physiology; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005333:Fetus / Q000378:metabolism; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008875:Middle Aged; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000502:physiology*; D013004:Somatostatin / Q000378:metabolism*