Three-dimensional reconstruction of substantia nigra pars compacta of human brain

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Abstract

Background. Up to the moment there is no universally accepted scheme of spatial organization of the groups of neurons of substantia nigra pars compacta of the human midbrain. A detailed study of the architectonics of this structure is necessary for pathomorphological analysis of agerelated changes in the nervous tissue and the associated neurodegenerative diseases with selective death of dopamine neurons.

Aim. To clarify the peculiarities of the morphochemical organization of the substantia nigra (SN) of a human brain and to create a threedimensional model of pars compacta.

Materials and Methods. Threedimensional reconstruction of substantia nigra pars compacta was performed on the brain autopsy material of individuals without neurological pathology (n=10, between 52 to 84 years of age) using a method of computed morphometry. Sections of the midbrain were stained by Nissl method and by an immunohistochemical method for localization of tyrosine hydroxylase – a marker of dopamine.

Results. In the SN pars compacta accumulations of neurons were identified in the form of 9 bands oriented in the rostrocaudal direction and including four areas: medial, lateral, dorsal and ventral. Morphometric analysis detected significant differences in the density of neurons and in expression of tyrosine hydroxylase between the areas of SN.

Conclusion. A model of cellular organization of SN pars compacta proposed by us on the basis of threedimensional reconstruction is characterized by a high degree of detalization as compared to similar works, and shows expressed spatial differentiation of the groups of neurons of SN which should be taken into consideration in pathomorphological examinations.

About the authors

Dmitriy N. Voronkov

Research Center of Neurology

Author for correspondence.
Email: neurolab@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5222-5322
SPIN-code: 1576-8871

MD, PhD, Senior Researcher of Laboratory of Functional Morphochemistry of the Department of Study of Brain

Russian Federation, Moscow

Vladimir N. Salkov

Research Center of Neurology

Email: neurolab@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1580-0380
SPIN-code: 1459-9812

MD, Grand PhD, Senior Researcher of Laboratory of Functional Morphochemistry of the Department of Study of Brain

Russian Federation, Moscow

Rudolf M. Khudoerkov

Research Center of Neurology

Email: neurolab@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6951-3918
SPIN-code: 4647-8405

MD, Grand PhD, Head of Laboratory of Functional Morphochemistry of the Department of Study of Brain

Russian Federation, Moscow

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2. Fig. 1. Localization of substantia nigra in the cross section of a human midbrain. a – a macropreparation fixed with formalin; b – staining by Nissl method; c – immunohistochemical identification of tyrosine hydroxylase; SN – substantia nigra; 1 – ventral area with sparsely packed neurons; 2 – dorsal area with densely packed neurons; dotted line – the boundaries of substantia nigra pars compacta

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3. Fig. 2. Three-dimensional reconstruction of substantia nigra of a human midbrain. a – boundaries and relative arrangement of dopaminergic structures of substantia nigra in the midbrain by localization of tyrosine hydroxylase (blue); b – spatial arrangement of aggregations of neurons in the caudal two thirds of substantia nigra stained with cresyl violet. SN – substantia nigra; CP – cerebral peduncle; NR – nucleus ruber. Groups of neurons of substantia nigra (1-9): medial area – 1,2; dorsal area – 6-8; ventral area – 3-5; lateral area – 9

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4. Fig. 3. Quantitative parameters of substantia nigra areas. a – distribution of density of neurons per 0.1 mm3; b – distribution of intensity of staining for tyrosine hydroxylase (in standard units of brightness) in the caudal-rostral direction (the abscissa shows the numbers of sections with 0.2 mm interval). D – dorsal area; V – ventral area; М – medial area; L – lateral area

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Copyright (c) 2018 Voronkov D.N., Salkov V.N., Khudoerkov R.M.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
 


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