Journal article
An ultrastructural study of the effects of age on sympathetic innervation and atrial tissue in the rat
Journal of molecular and cellular cardiology, v 15(2), pp 75-92
1983
PMID: 6854660
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Previous work on the rat heart has demonstrated an age-related reduction in catecholamines and a decline in myocardial cell sensitivity to catecholamines
in vitro. We used ultrastructural cytochemical techniques to label noradrenergic vesicles of the sympathetic nerve terminals of the rat heart atrium, and addressed the question of whether these deficits are accompanied by a decrease in the number of synaptic vesicles or by progressive axonal degeneration. Our results demonstrate a significant sympathetic axonal degeneration between 3 and 24 months of age. No decrease in noradrenergic vesicle population in the intact nerve terminals could be discerned over this age span. Atrial cell structural alterations observed with age include: (1) increased quantities of residual bodies; (2) infrequent but definite myofibrillar disorganization at cell peripheries; (3) infrequent regional discontinuity of cell attachments and (4) increased extracellular collagen. We suggest that the apparent integrity of noradrenergic vesicle populations is consistent with reports by other investigators that levels of the catecholamine synthesizing enzyme, tyrosine hydroxylase, in sympathetic ganglia increase with age. The previously observed decline in cardiac catecholamines with age may be due to axonal degeneration rather than to reduced noradrenergic vesicles in intact terminals.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- An ultrastructural study of the effects of age on sympathetic innervation and atrial tissue in the rat
- Creators
- Miriam R. McLean - Drexel UniversityPaula Bursztyn GoldbergJay Roberts - Drexel UniversityJames R Roberts - Emergency Medicine
- Publication Details
- Journal of molecular and cellular cardiology, v 15(2), pp 75-92
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Emergency Medicine
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:A1983QK90300002
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-0020691535
- Other Identifier
- 991019183939304721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
- Cell Biology