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Imaging of the Degeneration of Neurons and Their Processes in Rat or Cat Brain by 45 CaCl 2 Autoradiography or 55 CoCl 2 Positron Emission Tomography
Author(s) -
Gramsbergen J. B. P.,
Duin L. Veenmav. d.,
Loopuijt L.,
Paans A. M. J.,
Vaalburg W.,
Korf J.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of neurochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.75
H-Index - 229
eISSN - 1471-4159
pISSN - 0022-3042
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-4159.1988.tb02481.x
Subject(s) - kainic acid , neurochemical , neuronal degeneration , chemistry , degeneration (medical) , in vivo , neurotoxin , positron emission tomography , pathology , forebrain , nuclear medicine , neuroscience , medicine , central nervous system , biology , biochemistry , glutamate receptor , receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , disease
Abstract: The possibility of using radiolabeled divalent cations to visualize nerve cell degeneration in the brain was investigated after intoxication with neurotoxins. At different survival times after the intracerebral injection of kainic acid or 6‐hydroxydopamine, autoradiographs were made from brain sections of rats that had received 45 CaCl 2 intravenously 24 h before death. Brain sections, adjacent to those used for autoradiography, of the 6‐hydroxydopa‐mine‐treated rats were used for histofluorescence of catecholamines to check the neurochemical effect of the treatment. These experiments show that radioactive Ca accumulates in brain tissue during a particular phase of degeneration. Not only could degenerating cell bodies be traced by 45 Ca autoradiography, but also degenerating nerve terminals in the striato‐nigral and nigro‐striatal projection systems. In positron emission tomography (PET) studies, 55 CoCl 2 was used as a marker for Ca 2+ . Unilateral lesions of the cat forebrain, produced by kainic acid, could be imaged in vivo by PET with 55 CoCl 2 . PET with this radiolabel may provide diagnostic potentials for human neurodegenerative disorders.