RNA content of the nerve cells in the globus pallidus in parkinsonism

Abstract

The relative RNA content was determined in the nerve cells of the globus pallidus, in a material from 10 patients with Parkinsonism and 10 control patients in the same age group. The measurements were made by cytophotometry on 25 large cells in each preparation after gallocyanin-chrome alum staining. Both cytoplasm and nucleolus were measured, and in Parkinsonism the RNA content was found to be significantly lower in both regions. This is taken to indicate a disturbance in the RNA metabolism of these cells, perhaps caused by increased firing. Nucleoli in the nerve cells of the globus pallidus of the brains from subjects suffering from Parkinsonism are significantly larger than in the corresponding cells of control brains. This suggests a disturbance in the RNA synthesis here —as does also the lower RNA concentration (although this is to some extent explained by the larger volume of the nucleolus in the brain cells of the patients with Parkinsonism).