Age-related changes in histogram pattern of anterior horn cells in human cervical spinal cord

The purpose of the present study was to clarify age-related changes in histograms of spinal anterior horn cells. The study examined Rexed lamina IX of the C7 spinal cord segment in 22 men who had died of non-spinal disease (age range, 0-85 years). First, we confirmed that the size of nucleoli exhibited a linear relationship to the diameter of spinal anterior horn cells by preparing histograms of nucleoli. Second, this formula was used to create histograms of cervical anterior horn cells. Results were as follows: (i) diameter of nucleoli ranged from 2.0 microm to 6.0 microm; (ii) in each subject, no changes were seen in histogram patterns among ventral, intermediate, dorsal and overall sections; (iii) at < or =20 years of age, histograms displayed a single peak for the diameter of nucleoli at about 4.0-4.5 microm; (iv) at 21-60 years of age, histograms displayed two peaks, at about 3.5-4.0 microm and 5.0-5.5 microm; and (v) at 61-85 years of age, histograms displayed a single peak at about 5.0-5.5 microm.