Effects of Long-Term Hydergine® Administration on Lipofuscin Accumulation in Senescent Rat Brain

Abstract

The effects of ageing and of 6 months of Hydergine® treatment on lipofuscin deposition within the cytoplasm of pyramidal neurons of rat prefrontal cortex, hippocampus (fields CA₁ and CA₃) and of Purkinje neurons were assessed microfluorimetrically. No lipofuscin autofluorescence was detected in the nerve cell populations of 3-month-old rats, but lipopigment had accumulated in nerve cell bodies of 16-month-old animals and increased significantly thereafter in rats of 22 months of age. In 22-month-old rats, Hydergine administration (0.6 and 1 mg/kg p.o.) started at 16 months caused a significant dose-related decrease in lipofuscin accumulation within the cytoplasm of the various kinds of nerve cells examined.