Neurogenesis in the cervical spinal cord of senile female rats

PORTIANSKY, ENRIQUE LEO1; BARBEITO, CLAUDIO GUSTAVO1; ZUCCOLILLI, GUSTAVO OSCAR2; GIMENO, EDUARDO JUAN1; GOYA, RODOLFO GUSTAVO

Huerta Grande. Córdoba.

Taller; 7mo TALLER ARGENTINO DE NEUROCIENCIAS; 2005

Sociedad de Neurociencias

There is scarce information concerning cell proliferation in the adult spinal cord and virtually none in aging animals or humans. We performed a comparative morphometric and immunohistochemical (IHC) study of the C5 cervical segment in young (4 mo.), middle-aged (12 mo.) and senile (32 mo.) female rats. Serum prolactin (PRL), a neurogenic hormone, was also measured in the animals by RIA. A significant age-related increase was found in the total and gray matter area of C5 segments. The area occupied by gray matter increased with age in most of the ten laminas (Lm) in which it is divided, with the highest increase being observed in Lm-VII. IHC labeling of C5 segments for the neuron markers NeuN and human neuronal enolase (hNE) revealed that immunoreactivity for NeuN, but not for hNE, is progressively lost with aging in C5 neurons. The total number of neurons increased with age, with the senile animals showing the highest numbers of large and medium sized cells. The total neuronal area also increased with aging. Binucleated neurons were observed in the Lm-VII of young, middle-aged and senile rats. Lipofucsin was present in senile neurons. Other markers like GFAP and S100 did not show major age changes while there was an increase of neurofilament protein and a decrease in vimentin content. Serum PRL increased markedly with age. We conclude that in the cervical spinal cord of female rats, neurogenesis occurs during the entire life span, a process in which PRL may play a role.  [ELP1]Ahora ya sabemos que hay