Premium
Neuropathology of immunohistochemically identified brainstem neurons in Parkinson's disease
Author(s) -
Halliday G. M.,
Li Y. W.,
Blumbergs P. C.,
Joh T. H.,
Cotton R. G. H.,
Howe P. R. C.,
Blessing W. W.,
Geffen L. B.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/ana.410270405
Subject(s) - brainstem , neuroscience , dorsal motor nucleus , pons , substantia nigra , dorsal raphe nucleus , serotonergic cell groups , reticular formation , tegmentum , locus ceruleus , locus coeruleus , pedunculopontine nucleus , parkinson's disease , raphe nuclei , biology , midbrain , medulla oblongata , nucleus , medicine , pathology , dopaminergic , serotonin , central nervous system , dopamine , serotonergic , vagus nerve , deep brain stimulation , disease , stimulation , receptor
Regional loss of immunohistochemically identified neurons in serial sections through the brainstem of 4 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease was compared with equivalent sections from 4 age‐matched control subjects. In the Parkinson brains, the catecholamine cell groups of the midbrain, pons, and medulla showed variable neuropathological changes. All dopaminergic nuclei were variably affected, but were most severely affected in the caudal, central substantia nigra. The pontine noradrenergic locus ceruleus showed variable degrees of degeneration. There was also a substantial loss of substance P–containing neurons in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus. However, the most severely affected cell group in the pons was the serotonin‐synthesizing neurons in the median raphe. In the medulla, substantial neuronal loss was found in several diverse cell groups including the adrenaline‐synthesizing and neuropeptide Y–containing neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla, the serotonin‐synthesizing neurons in the raphe obscurus nucleus, the substance P–containing neurons in the lateral reticular formation, as well as the substance P–containing neurons in the dorsal motor vagal nucleus. Lewy bodies were present in immunohistochemically identified neurons in many of these regions, indicating that they were affected directly by the disease process. These widespread but region‐ and transmitter‐specific changes help account for the diversity of motor, cognitive, and autonomic manifestations of Parkinson''s disease.