Brainstem Serotonergic Neurons in Chronic Alcoholics With and Without the Memory Impairment of Korsakoffʼs Psychosis
| Autor: | Jane Ellis, Glenda M. Halliday, Robert N S Heard, Diana Caine, Clive Harper |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1993 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Serotonin Psychosis medicine.medical_specialty Encephalopathy Amnesia Serotonergic Pathology and Forensic Medicine Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience Alcohol Amnestic Disorder Pons Internal medicine medicine Humans Wernicke Encephalopathy Aged Neurons Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome General Medicine Middle Aged Tryptophan hydroxylase medicine.disease Alcoholism Endocrinology Neurology Raphe Nuclei Female Neurology (clinical) Brainstem medicine.symptom Psychology Neuroscience Brain Stem |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Neuropathology and Experimental Neurology. 52:567-579 |
| ISSN: | 0022-3069 |
| DOI: | 10.1097/00005072-199311000-00003 |
| Popis: | There are several lines of evidence to suggest that serotonergic neurons in the brain are detrimentally affected by chronic alcohol consumption. The present study aims to quantify pathological changes in brainstem regions containing serotonergic neurons in chronic alcoholics compared to age-matched non-alcoholic controls. An antibody specific for tryptophan hydroxylase was used to immunohistochemically demonstrate serotonergic neurons in serial sections of postmortem brainstem. The cases analyzed were divided into four groups on the basis of their clinical and pathological presentation; chronic alcoholics with Wernicke's encephalopathy, chronic alcoholics with additional Korsakoff's psychosis, non-alcoholic controls, and a single chronic alcoholic without neurological complications. There was an overall reduction in the number of serotonergic neurons in all alcoholic cases when compared with controls. All brainstem regions were affected, but the largest neuronal loss was found in areas of the medullary and caudal pontine reticular formation (reduced by 80-90%). Alcoholics with Korsakoff's psychosis did not differ in the amount or extent of pathology from the other alcoholic cases analyzed. The data indicate that significant numbers of serotonergic neurons degenerate in chronic alcoholics. Such a loss is likely to have significant clinical consequences. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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