Morphology and distribution of neuropeptide-containing neurons in human cerebral cortex

Biopsies of human cerebral cortex were fixed by immersion and immunostained for the detection of neuropeptides in neuronal cell bodies and axons. Four neuropeptides (neuropeptide Y, somatostatin, , substance P and cholecystokinin) were visualized in a series of adjacent sections. All populations of immunoreactive neurons had a morphology characteristic of interneurons, with variations in dendritic arborizations and laminar distribution. The cholecystokinin-immunoreactive neurons were most numerous in the supragranular layers, whereas neurons containing the other three peptides occurred mainly in infragranular layers, or even in neurons populating the subcortical white matter. Quantitatively, each population of neuropeptide-containing neurons accounted for 1.4-2.5% of the total neuronal population. The distribution of these neurons varied slightly between cytoarchitectonic divisions, with substance P- and somatostatin-immunoreactive neurons dominating in the temporal lobe and cholecystokinin-immunoreactive neurons in the frontal lobe. Neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive neurons dominated in the gray matter of the frontal half of the hemisphere and in the subcortical white matter of the caudal half of the hemisphere. Furthermore, co-existence of neuropeptide Y or substance P immunoreactivity within somatostatin-immunoreactive neurons could be demonstrated using double labeling immunofluorescence techniques. The axonal plexuses immunoreactive for neuropeptide Y, somatostatin, or substance P were distributed in all layers, with a strong predominance of horizontally oriented fibers in layer I, a moderate plexus of randomly oriented fibers in the supra- and infragranular layers, and a slightly weaker innervation of layer IV. Immunoreactive axons formed, in addition, complex terminal arbors, mostly in older subjects, suggesting that they resulted from an as yet undefined aging process. The present study underlines several aspects of the organization of the neuropeptide-containing neurons of the human cerebral cortex, which are of particular interest in the light of the involvement of these neurons in several neurodegenerative diseases.