Morphometric analysis of the vascular network of the suprachiasmatic and paraventricular nucleus in the human brain

: The aim of the study is to discover, the sources of vascularization, vascular areas, the size and density of the capillary network in the suprachiasmatic and the paraventricular nuclei of postnatal human brains of both sexes. The brain blood vessels under examination were filled with a mixture of India ink and gelatin. The serial paraffin sections of 200 microns cleared after Spalteholz. In the vascularization of the suprachiasmatic and the paraventricular nuclei, two arterial stems, take part with their branches (a. cerebri anterior and a. communicans anterior). In order to quantify the density of the capillary network, the authors used the standard stereologic parameters - volume density, surface density and mean radius of blood vessels. The comparative testing of the mean values obtained in male and female subjects did not reveal any significant sex - dependent differences regarding the size and density of the capillary network in the suprachiasmatic and the paraventricular nuclei of the human brain.