■皮质基底电路的功能障碍-包括其主输入核,纹状体-有助于神经精神疾病,如自闭症和Tourette综合征(TS)。这些情况显示出明显的性别差异,男性比女性更常见。调节性中间神经元,如胆碱能中间神经元(CINs)和表达小白蛋白的GABA能快速尖峰中间神经元(FSI),与人类神经精神疾病如TS有关,这些中间神经元的消融在雄性小鼠中产生相关的行为病理学,但不是女性。在这里,我们研究了纹状体中间神经元密度和分布的性别差异。
■我们使用CIN的立体量化,FSI,雄性和雌性小鼠的背侧纹状体(尾状壳核)和腹侧纹状体(伏隔核)中的生长抑素表达(SOM)GABA能中间神经元。
■男性的CIN密度高于女性,尤其是在背侧纹状体;雌性在背侧和腹侧纹状体之间分布相等。FSI表现出相似的分布,男性的背腹侧密度梯度大于女性。SOM中间神经元在腹侧比背侧纹状体更密集,没有性别差异。
■FSI和CINs的密度和分布的这些性别差异可能导致基底神经节功能的性别差异,特别是在精神病理学的背景下。
UNASSIGNED: Dysfunction of the cortico-basal circuitry - including its primary input nucleus, the striatum - contributes to neuropsychiatric disorders, such as autism and Tourette Syndrome (TS). These conditions show marked sex differences, occurring more often in males than in females. Regulatory interneurons, such as cholinergic interneurons (CINs) and
parvalbumin-expressing GABAergic fast spiking interneurons (FSIs), are implicated in human neuropsychiatric disorders such as TS, and ablation of these interneurons produces relevant behavioral pathology in male mice, but not in females. Here we investigate sex differences in the density and distribution of striatal interneurons.
UNASSIGNED: We use stereological quantification of CINs, FSIs, and somatostatin-expressing (SOM) GABAergic interneurons in the dorsal striatum (caudate-putamen) and the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens) in male and female mice.
UNASSIGNED: Males have a higher density of CINs than females, especially in the dorsal striatum; females have equal distribution between dorsal and ventral striatum. FSIs showed similar distributions, with a greater dorsal-ventral density gradient in males than in females. SOM interneurons were denser in the ventral than in the dorsal striatum, with no sex differences.
UNASSIGNED: These sex differences in the density and distribution of FSIs and CINs may contribute to sex differences in basal ganglia function, particularly in the context of psychopathology.