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Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Semi-Quantitative Determination of Dopaminergic Neuron Density in the Substantia Nigra of Rodent Models using Automated Image Analysis
Published on: February 2, 2021
Nigral burden of alpha-synuclein correlates with striatal dopamine deficit
Gabor G Kovacs1, Ivan J Milenkovic, Matthias Preusser
1Institute of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
Aggregated alpha-synuclein is the hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD), diffuse Lewy body disease (DLBD), and multiple system atrophy (MSA). Physiologically, alpha-synuclein ensures normal functions of dopamine transporter (DAT) and tyrosine hydoxylase. In alpha-synucleinopathies, it accumulates in neuronal cytoplasm and neurites through several stages. It is unclear whether the accumulation of pathological alpha-synuclein in the substantia nigra in PD correlates with the dopaminergic deficit in the striatal target. We evaluated the impact of the nigral burden of pathological alpha-synuclein immunoreactivity in 27 alpha-synucleinopathy brains by morphometric immunohistochemistry. DAT immunoreactivity in the striatum inversely correlates with the total alpha-synuclein burden in the substantia nigra but not with cytoplasmic inclusion counts only. This result has implications for imaging, clinicopathological correlative studies, and staging of the disease process.
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