Methods of immunohistochemistry and computerized morphometry as promising tools in the study of pathogenic patterns of neurodegenerative processes

Modern methods of immunohistochemistry and computer morphometry provide powerful possibilities for the study of pathogenetic patterns of neurodegeneration process occurring in physiological aging of men and women, as well as in experimental animals on modeling of Parkinson’s and Huntington's diseases. Threedimensional reconstruction of the substantia nigra pars compacta of the human and rat brains revealed both common features in their organization (heterogeneity of structures) and differences in quantitative morphochemical parameters determining their species-specific characteristics. On modeling of the Huntington's disease with the neurotoxin 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NPA), it was shown not only the death of neurons in the striatum and a decrease in its dopaminergic innervation, but also dysfunction of astrocytes with reduced expression of glutamine synthase that can increase the extracellular content of glutamate. The latter,along with direct succinate dehydrogenase-blocking action of 3-NPA, is one of the factors leading to neurodegenerative changes in the striatum. On modeling of Parkinson's disease, the important role of neuroglia in the neurodegenerative process was shown: it was found that activated astroglia had not only destructive, but also neuroprotective functions, which may serve the basis for the development of respective methods of pharmacological correction directed at regulation of the of glial cell functions.