Regional density of glial cells in the rat corpus callosum

• Daniel Reyes-Haro ^[1] ; Ernesto Mora-Loyola ^[1] ; Berenice Soria-Ortiz ^[1] ; Jesús García-Colunga ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

     Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

     México

     
• Localización: Biological Research, ISSN-e 0717-6287, ISSN 0716-9760, Vol. 46, Nº. 1, 2013, págs. 27-32
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Axons and glial cells are the main components of white matter. The corpus callosum (CC) is the largest white matter tract in mammals; in rodents, 99% of the cells correspond to glia after postnatal day 5 (P5). The area of the CC varies through life and regional differences related to the number of axons have been previously described. Whether glial cell density varies accordingly is unknown; thus the aim of this study was to estimate glial cell density for the genu, body and splenium -the three main regions of CC-, of P6 and P30 rats. Here we report that the density of CC glial cells reduced by ~10% from P6 to P30. Even so, the density of astrocytes showed a slight increase (+6%), probably due to differentiation of glioblasts. Interestingly, glial cell density decreased for the genu (-21%) and the body (-13%), while for the splenium a minor increase (+5%) was observed. The astrocyte/glia ratio increased (from P6 to P30) for the genu (+27%), body (+17%) and splenium (+4%). Together, our results showed regional differences in glial cell density of the CC. Whether this pattern is modified in some neuropathologies remains to be explored.