[Age-related characteristics of cerebral blood vessels in the rat (morphometric study)]

Age changes in the vascular network density and transversal section of the vessels have been studied in the cerebral hemisphere cortex, corpus callosum, septum and nucleus caudatus of Wistar rats. Angiography has been performed by means of intracardiac injection of Indian ink, frontal colloidin slices of the brain 15 mcm thick have been prepared. Amount of vessels and section area of each vessel have been measured, using the automatic analysis. Each brain area studied has homogeneous vascularization density, however, they differ from each other by the amount of vessels. The vascular size in the areas does not differ. At the age of 2-20 months the average number of vessels in all the cerebral areas investigated does not change, while the vascular diameters demonstrate certain tendency to increase after 17 months of life.