Moderate loss of cerebellar Purkinje cells after chronic bilateral common carotid artery occlusion in rats.
Pathological effects of moderate ischemia (oligemia, hypoperfusion) are relevant in relation to vascular factors in dementia. Chronic bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) in adult Wistar rats induces oligemia and leads to acute changes in gene expression, subacute changes in cortical astrocytes and prolonged changes in white matter tracts, while largely sparing neurons in the forebrain areas. Dilation and remodeling of the basilar artery ensures blood flow to the forebrain. The present study examined the hypoxia-sensitive Purkinje cells in the cerebellum after 6 months of BCCAO using conventional neuropathological analysis, immunohistochemistry and high-precision design-based stereologic methods. Purkinje cells in the vermis region revealed abnormally shaped nuclei. A stereologic analysis showed that the mean total number of Purkinje cells within the vermis was statistically significantly smaller in the BCCAO animals than in the control animals (d = 11.8%; P < 0.0001). BCCAO had no significant effect on the mean volumes of the molecular layer, granule cell layer and white matter in the vermis or the entire cerebellum. Remodeling of the basilar artery indicated that secondary vascular perturbations might be responsible for the effects of BCCAO on the cerebellar Purkinje cells.
Kántor
Orsolya
O
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
Schmitz
Christoph
C
Feiser
Judith
J
Brasnjevic
Ivona
I
Korr
Hubert
H
Busto
Raul
R
Ginsberg
Myron D
MD
Schmidt-Kastner
Rainald
R
D000818:Animals; D064026:Calbindins; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D016923:Cell Death / Q000502:physiology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology*; D005634:Fructose-Bisphosphate Aldolase / Q000378:metabolism; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000378:metabolism; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques
D064026:Calbindins; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G; D005634:Fructose-Bisphosphate Aldolase