title: Occurrence of GABA-transaminase in the thymus gland of juvenile and aged rats.
abstract: The occurrence and distribution of GABA-transaminase (GABA-t) activity were examined in the thymus of juvenile, adult and aged rats, using enzyme-histochemical and biochemical methods. Quantitative image analysis showed that specific GABA-t reactivity was localized in the wall of the arteries and, to a lesser extent, to the veins. Only a low activity could be observed in association with the subcapsular and medullary part of the parenchyma of the thymus. Many structures resembling nerve fibers also showed low positive reactivity. Biochemical results gave the following decreasing order of GABA-t activity: arteries, veins, whole thymus and parenchyma. Histoenzymatic staining and related values of quantitative analysis of images, are in agreement with the biochemical results; moreover, they demonstrated that the intensity of histoenzymatic staining for GABA-t in thymus of rats strongly decreases with age. GABA-t in thymic tissue is concentrated in blood vessels and particularly in the arteries. Therefore, our findings do not support the earlier assumptions that GABA-t is exclusively concentrated in cerebral vessels. Moreover, the decrease of GABA-t activity during age in thymic tissues may be related to the decrease of thymic microvessels as consequence of the thymic involution. On the contrary, the thymic macrovessels show an elevated staining in all ages with an apparent increase due to the thymic involution.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Respiratory Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy. cameroni@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cavallotti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Artico
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Santis
mesh_terms: D000612:4-Aminobutyrate Transaminase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D000612:4-Aminobutyrate Transaminase