Correlation between glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive astrocytes and age in the human hippocampus.
The hippocampus is one of the areas most vulnerable to histopathological changes, and such changes may yield useful information in forensic medicine. We found that glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive astrocytes are frequently found in the hippocampus of consecutive series of forensic brains, distributed predominantly in the hippocampal CA4 and hippocampal sulcus (HS) regions. The present study counted GFAP-positive astrocytes in these regions and investigated associations with age, cause of death and postmortem time. Significant correlations were found between age and number of GFAP-positive astrocytes in both CA4 and HS regions. Number of GFAP-positive astrocytes increases in an age-dependent manner, but no correlations were noted between number of GFAP-positive astrocytes and postmortem time and cause of death. Number of GFAP-positive astrocytes in the hippocampus may provide useful information for age estimation.
Takahashi
Tohru
T
Department of Psychiatry, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan. t-tohru@hsp.md.shinshu-u.ac.jp
Amano
Naoji
N
Asamura
Hideki
H
Nomiyama
Tetsuo
T
Hanihara
Tokiji
T
Nakayama
Jun
J
Fukushima
Hirofumi
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein