Intrauterine growth retardation does not alter the distribution of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons of A8, A9 and A10 groups in the rat: a three-dimensional reconstruction study.
The purpose of the present investigation was to evaluate possible effects of severe prenatal hypotrophy on the number and spatial distribution of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons of the A8, A9 and A10 cell groups in the rat brain. Prenatal hypotrophy was induced in rat pups by ligaturing one uterine artery in pregnant rats on the 17th day of gestation. This procedure induces a severe growth retardation, which is never caught up with, even at adulthood. In both control and growth-retarded adult rats, serial coronal sections were cut through the retrorubral field, the substantia nigra, and the ventral tegmental area (A8, A9 and A10 cell groups, respectively). The number of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons was determined, and their spatial localization was recorded by means of a 3-dimensional reconstruction software developed in our laboratory. Our 3-dimensional models provide a visual illustration of the heterogeneous continuum formed by the dopaminergic neurons. They illustrate the difficulty in demarcating the A8, A9 and A10 cell groups. Finally, our results show that intrauterine growth retardation did not affect either the number or the 3-dimensional organization of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive neurons in the adult rat brain.
Banrezes
B
B
Equipe AMIB, INRA, Domaine de Vilvert, F-78352, Jouy-en-Josas, France. bernadette.banrezes@jouy.inra.fr
Maurin
Y
Y
Verney
C
C
D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000378:metabolism*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D017557:Ventral Tegmental Area / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology
D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase