Do all of human midbrain tyrosine hydroxylase neurons synthesize dopamine?

Abstract

We examined whether all of human midbrain tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) neurons substantially synthesize dopamine (DA) using dual labeling immunohistochemical technique of TH and aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC). In the substantia nigra, besides many neurons doubly stained for TH and AADC, neurons stained only for TH and only for AADC (D-neurons [C.B. Jaeger, D.A. Ruggiero, V.R. Albert, T.H. Joh, D.J. Reis, Immunocytochemical localization of aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase, in: A. Björklund, T. Hökfelt (Eds.), Handbook of Chemical Neuroanatomy, Classical Transmitters in the CNS, Vol. 2, Part 1, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1984, pp. 387–408.]) were identified. In the ventral tegmental area, dually labeled neurons and TH-only-positive neurons were found. It is indicated that the number of midbrain TH neurons does not reflect the exact number of DA neurons.