NEURONAL AND LYMPHOCYTIC POPULATIONS IN HUMAN TRIGEMINAL GANGLIA - IMPLICATIONS FOR AGING AND FOR LATENT VIRUS

The number of neurons and lymphocytes was determined morphometrically in serial sections of trigeminal ganglia harvested at autopsy from 64 human subjects dying at ages 2 mo.-81 yr. The nerve cell population varied from 20,159 to 156,702 with a mean of 80,638/ganglion and was unaffected by increasing age. The degree of lymphocytic infiltration, which was prominent and ubiquitous, also did not correlate with the subjects'' age. There was no signifcicant correlation between neuronal and lymphocyte counts. The inflammatory cells present throughout life apparently are unassociated with any detrimental effect on the sensory neurons, and may represent a histopathological marker either of reactivating herpes virus or of virus maintained in a latent state within the Gasserian ganglia of man.