Ultrastructural changes in microvessel with age in the hippocampus of senescence-accelerated mouse (SAM)-P/10.
Microvessels in the hippocampus of aged SAM-P/10 (14 months old) showed the following ultrastructural changes compared with those of young-mature controls (3 months old): (1) the majority of capillaries had lost the smooth contours typical of young cases; (2) the luminal surface of capillaries showed irregularity; (3) the endothelial cytoplasm was thicker; (4) vesicles appeared more frequently in the endothelium; (5) interendothelial tight junctions and basement membranes, however, seemed to show no significant abnormalities; (6) pericytes, especially those of arterioles and venules, contained many enlarged cytoplasmic inclusions with honeycomb-like vacuoles; (7) the area of glial perivascular end feet was greater. These morphological findings raise the possibility of impaired blood-brain barrier function and microhemodynamic disturbances in aged SAM-P/10 hippocampus.
Lee
E Y
EY
Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, South Korea.
Lee
S Y
SY
Lee
T S
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Chi
J G
JG
Choi
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Suh
Y H
YH
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002196:Capillaries / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051379:Mice