Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Neuropharmacology. 2013 Sep 8;76(0 0):97–105. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2013.08.033

Figure 5. Quantitative analysis of catecholaminergic cell loss reveals degeneration of LC precedes that of SNpc.

Figure 5

TH and hematoxylin cell counts in the SNpc and LC of 6, 12 18, 24, and 30 month wildtype and VMAT2 LO mice. A, Significant reductions in TH cell counts in the SNpc were observed beginning at 24 months in wildtype and VMAT2 LO mice, with VMAT2 LO mice having fewer TH cells overall. B, Furthermore, a similar age-dependent reduction in hematoxylin cells in the SNpc was seen in wildtype and VMAT2 LO mice. C, Wildtype and VMAT2 LO mice underwent progressive loss of TH cells in the LC, with VMAT2 LO mice having accelerated loss compared to wildtype, beginning at 12 months of age. D, A significant reduction was also seen in hematoxylin cells in the LC at 18, 24, and 30 months of age in VMAT2 LO mice compared to wildtype in the LC. Results represent the mean ± SEM for 5 animals per genotype at each age. *p<0.05, **p<0.01; ***p<0.001 (with respect to 6 month mice within genotype) †<0.05, ‡<0.001 (between genotypes).