AGE-RELATED-CHANGES IN THE BRAINS OF SENESCENCE-ACCELERATED MICE (SAM) - ASSOCIATION WITH GLIAL AND ENDOTHELIAL REACTIONS

Twelve substrains of inbred senescence-accelerated mice (SAM) have bee n developed, among which the SAMP8 and SAMP10 strains show a significa nt age-related deterioration in learning and memory for passive and ac tive avoidance tasks. These strains have, respectively, a low and high incidence of systemic senile amyloidosis. Although we found no amyloi d deposits in their brain parenchyma, a variety of age-related alterat ions were identified, involving neurons, glia, and vessels in the brai n tissues. Here we review the degenerative changes in aged SAMP8 and S AMP10 brains. These changes are generally similar to the pathology of aging human brain and may be characterized by their association with s ome specific glial reactions. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.