TABLE 1.
Morphological Rating of GFAP-Positive Astrocytes in Contralateral and Ipsilateral Midbrain 3 Months After Unilateral MPTP Infusion in Young, Middle-Aged, and Old-Aged Monkeys
| Age group | Animal no. | Age (years) | Regions
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vtSN
|
dtSN
|
VTA
|
||||||
| C | I | C | I | C | I | |||
| Young | 6965 | 8 | − | + | − | + | − | + |
| 6966 | 8 | + | ++ | + | ++ | + | ++ | |
| 7009 | 8 | − | + | − | + | − | + | |
| 7086 | 10 | − | + | − | + | − | + | |
| Middle | 6339 | 14 | ++ | ++ | ++ | ++ | ++ | ++ |
| 6327 | 17 | + | ++ | + | ++ | + | ++ | |
| 6337 | 17 | + | ++ | + | ++ | + | ++ | |
| 7010 | 17 | − | + | − | + | − | + | |
| 7014 | 17 | − | ++ | − | + | − | + | |
| Old | 6254 | 27 | − | + | − | + | − | + |
| 6237 | 28 | − | + | − | + | − | + | |
| 6553 | 30 | + | ++ | − | + | − | + | |
| 6725 | 30 | − | + | − | + | − | + | |
| 6724 | 31 | + | ++ | + | ++ | + | ++ | |
C, contralateral midbrain; I, ipsilateral midbrain; (−) resting astrocytes, characterized by little cytoplasmic staining and long thin lightly moderately stained processes; (+) numerous astrocytes in an intermediate hypertrophic state, characterized by increased cytoplasmic staining and thicker darker processes; (++) the majority of astrocytes are in advanced stages of activation, characterized by increased cell body size with intense staining and shorter thick intensely stained processes.