Summary
The human substantia nigra can react to destruction of the basal ganglia in several ways. In ten brains with massive unilateral infarction of the basal ganglia slight to moderate nerve cell loss was present in the ipsilateral substantia nigra. The severe nerve cell loss reported in mostly young experimental animals was not observed. One case also displayed a fine network of myelinated and unmyelinated fibers surrounding pigmented nerve cells and dendrites in the ispilateral substantia nigra. Electron microscopy of the substantia nigra from this case showed neurofilamentous hyperplasia, paired helical filaments and rare straight filaments, but only on the side ipsilateral to the striatal infarct.
The nerve cell loss in the ten cases was interpreted as a mainly retrograde degeneration, the perineuronal sprouts in case 10 as a reaction to partial deafferentation, and the paired helical filaments as either a retrograde or a transsynaptic reaction in the substantia nigra ipsilateral to the basal ganglia destruction.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderton BH, Breinburg D, Downes MJ, Green PJ, Tomlinson BE, Ulrich J, Wood JN, Kahn J (1982) Monoclonal antibodies show that neurofibrillary tangles and neurofilaments share antigenic determinants. Nature 298:84–86
Barron KD, Dentinger MP, Nelson LR, Mincy JE (1975) Ultrastructure of axonal reaction in red nucleus of cat. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 34:222–248
Barron KD, Dentinger MP, Koeppen AH (1982) Fine structure of the hypertrophied human inferior olive. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 41:186–203
Bedard P, Larochelle L, Parent A, Poirier LJ (1969) The nigrostriatal pathway: A correlative study based on neuroanatomical and neurochemical criteria in the cat and the monkey. Exp Neurol 25:365–377
Björklund A, Stenevi U (1979) Regeneration of monoaminergic and cholinergic neurons in the mammalian central nervous system. Physiol Rev 59:62–100
Carpenter MB, Peter P (1972) Nigrostriatal and nigrothalamic fibers in the Rhesus monkey. J Comp Neurol 144:92–116
Chiu F-C, Norton WT, Fields KL (1981) The cytoskeleton of primary astrocytes in culture contains actin, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and the fibroblast-type filament protein, vimentin. J Neurochem 37:147–155
Cowan WM (1970) Anterograde and retrograde transneuronal degeneration in the central and peripheral nervous system. In: Nauta WJH, Ebbeson SOE (eds) Contemporary research methods in neuroanatomy. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 217–251
Dooling EC, Adams RD (1975) The pathological anatomy of posthemiplegic athetosis. Brain 98:29–48
Dresel K, Rothmann H (1925) Völliger Ausfall der Substantia nigra nach Exstirpation von Großhirn und Striatum. Z Ges Neurol Psychiat 94:781–789
Ferraro A (1928) The connections of the pars suboculomotoria of the substantia nigra. Arch Neurol Psychiatry 19:177–180
Forno LS, Strefling AM, Sternberger LA, Sternberger NH, Eng LF (1983) Immunocytochemical staining of neurofibrillary tangles and of the periphery of Lewy bodies with a monoclonal antibody to neurofilaments. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 42:342 [Abstr]
Fox CA, Schmitz JT (1944) The substantia nigra and the entopeduncular nucleus in the cat. J Comp Neurol 80:323–334
Grant G (1975) Retrograde neuronal degeneration. In: Santini M (ed) Golgi centennial symposium. Raven Press, New York, pp 195–200
Holmes GH (1901) The nervous system of the dog without a forebrain. J Physiol (Lond) 27:1–25
Horoupian DS, Wisniewski H (1971) Neurofilamentous hyperplasia in inferior olivary hypertrophy. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 30: 571–582
Mettler FA (1943) Extensive unilateral removals in the primate: Physiologic effects and resultant degeneration. J Comp Neurol 79:185–245
Mettler FA (1970) Nigrofugal connections in primate brain. J Comp Neurol 138:291–320
Morgan LO (1927) The corpus striatum. A study of secondary degeneration following lesions in man and of symptoms and acute degeneration following experimental lesions in cats. Arch Neurol Psychiatry 18:461–549
Morrison LR (1929) Anatomical studies of the central nervous system of dogs without forebrain or cerebellum. De Erven F. Bohn, Haarlem [Reviewed in Arch Neurol Psychiatry (1930) 24:218–220]
Penney JB, Jr, Young AB (1983) Speculations on the functional anatomy of basal ganglia disorders. Ann Rev Neurosci 6:73–94
Reis DJ, Gilad G, Pickel VM, Joh TH (1978) Reversible changes in the activities and amounts of tyrosine hydroxylase in dopamine neurons of the substantia nigra in response to axonal injury as studied by immunochemical and immunocytochemical methods. Brain Res 144:325–342
Rosegay H (1944) An experimental investigation of the connections between the corpus striatum and substantia nigra in the cat. J Comp Neurol 80:293–321
Sternberger LA, Harwell LW, Sternberger NH (1982) Neurotypy: Regional individuality in rat brain detected by immunocytochemistry with monoclonal antibodies. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 79:1326–1330
Strefling AM, Urich H (1982) Crossed cerebellar atrophy: An old problem revisited. Acta Neuropathol (Berl) 57:197–202
Wang RY (1981) Dopaminergic neurons in the rat ventral tegmental area. I. Identification and characterization. Brain Res Rev 3: 123–140
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This study was supported by the Medical Research Service of the Veterans Administration
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Forno, L.S. Reaction of the substantia nigra to massive basal ganglia infarction. Acta Neuropathol 62, 96–102 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00684925
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00684925