Summary
Ultrastructural changes in the gracile nucleus of the rat have been examined after peripheral nerve injury. The sciatic nerve of adult rats was transected at mid-thigh level, and after survival times ranging from 1 day to 32 weeks sections from the gracile nucleus were prepared for electron microscopic examination. Unoperated animals served as controls. Atypical profiles were regularly observed in the experimental cases at post-operative survival times from 3 days up to 32 weeks. It was sometimes not possible to classify these as pre-terminal axons or terminals, because synaptic contacts could not be identified. The two most common changes throughout the entire post-operative period were greatly expanded myelinated axons, or unmyelinated profiles containing numerous mitochondria, osmiophilic dense bodies and vacuoles. Atypical profiles were occasionally observed in unoperated control animals. The results clearly show that various types of degenerative changes occur in the gracile nucleus after peripheral nerve injury. These changes differ markedly from previously described transganglionic changes in other systems. It cannot be excluded that some of the changes reflect growth-related reactions, although the typical features of axon regeneration could not be found.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albright BC (1989) The morphology of primary afferent terminals in the rat gracile nucleus following peripheral nerve crush injury. Anat Rec 223:7A
Aldskogius H, Risling M (1983) Preferential loss of unmyelinated L7 dorsal root axons following sciatic nerve resection in kittens. Brain Res 289:358–361
Aldskogius H, Arvidsson J, Grant G (1985) The reaction of primary sensory neurons to peripheral nerve injury with particular emphasis on transganglionic changes. Brain Res 357:27–46
Arvidsson J (1979) An ultrastructural study of transganglionic degeneration in the main sensory trigeminal nucleus of the rat. J Neurocytol 8:31–45
Arvidsson J (1986) Transganglionic degeneration in vibrissae innervating primary sensory neurons of the rat: a light and electron microscopic study. J Comp Neurol 249:392–403
Arvidsson J, Ygge J (1986) A quantitative study of the effects of neonatal capsaicin treatment and of subsequent peripheral nerve transection in the adult rat. Brain Res 397:130–136
Arvidsson J, Ygge J, Grant G (1986) Cell loss in lumbar dorsal root ganglia and transganglionic degeneration after sciatic nerve resection in the rat. Brain Res 373:15–21
Bannister R (1978) Brain's clinical neurology. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Basbaum AI, Hand PJ (1973) Projections of cervicothoracic dorsal roots to the cuneate nucleus of the rat, with observations on cellular ‘bricks’. J Comp Neurol 148:347–360
Bisby MA (1981) Axonal transport in the central axon of sensory neurons during regeneration of their peripheral axon. Neurosci Lett 21: 7–11
Blomqvist A, Westman J (1970) An electron microscopical study of the gracile nucleus in the cat. Acta Soc Med Upsal 75:241–252
Carlson J, Lais AC, Dyck PJ (1979) Axonal atrophy from permanent peripheral axotomy in adult cat. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 38:579–585
Castro-Lopes JM, Coimbra A, Grant G (1987) Ultrastructural changes of primary afferent endings in the spinal cord substantia gelatinosa during transganglionic degeneration. Neuroscience 22: S713
Castro-Lopes JM, Coimbra A, Grant G, Arvidsson J (1990) Ultrastructural changes of the central scalloped (CI) primary afferent endings of synaptic glomeruh in the substantia gelatinosa Rolandi of the rat after peripheral neurotomy. J Neurocytol 19:329–337
Cova JL, Aldskogius H, Arvidsson J, Molander C (1988) Changes in microglial cell numbers in the spinal cord dorsal horn following brachial plexus transection in the adult rat. Exp Brain Res 73:61–68
Friede RL, Martinez AJ (1970) Analysis of the process of sheath expansion in swollen nerve fibers. Brain Res 19:165–182
Fujisawa K (1988) Study of axonal dystrophy III. Posterior funiculus and posterior column of ageing and old rats. Acta Neuropathol 76:115–127
Fujisawa K, Shiraki H (1978) Study of axonal dystrophy. I. Pathology of the neuropil of the gracile and the cuneate nuclei in ageing and old rats: a stereological study. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 4:1–20
Fujisawa K, Shiraki H (1980) Study of axonal dystrophy. II. Dystrophy and atrophy of the presynaptic boutons: a dual pathology. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 6:387–398
Grant G, Ekvall L, Westman J (1970) Transganglionic degeneration in the vestibular nerve. In: Strahle J (ed) Vestibular function on earth and in space. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 301–305
Grant G, Arvidsson J, Robertson B, Ygge J (1979) Transganglionic transport of horseradish peroxidase in primary sensory neurons. Neurosci Lett 12:23–28
Gulley RL (1973) Golgi studies of the nucleus gracilis in the rat. Anat Rec 177:325–342
Hachisuka K, Lais AC, Dyck PJ (1989) Ultrastructural alterations of primary afferent axons in the nucleus gracilis after peripheral nerve axotomy. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 48:413–424
Hashimoto PH, Palay SL (1965) Peculiar axons with enlarged endings in the nucleus gracilis. Anat Rec 151:454–455
Hayat MA (1981) Fixation for electron microscopy. Academic Press, New York
Johnson LR, Westrum LE, Canfield RC (1983) Ultrastructural study of transganglionic degeneration following dental lesions. Exp Brain Res 52:226–234
Jordan F, Thomas W (1988) Brain macrophages: questions of origin and interrelationship. Brain Res 472:165–178
Jänig W, McLachlan E (1984) On the fate of sympathetic and sensory neurons projecting into a neuroma of the superficial peroneal nerve in the cat. J Comp Neurol 225:302–311
Knyihár E, Csillik B (1976) Effect of peripheral axotomy on the fine structure and histochemistry of the Rolando substance: degenerative atrophy of central processes of pseudounipolar cells. Exp Brain Res 26:73–87
Lieberman AR (1974) Some factors affecting retrograde neuronal responses to axonal lesions. In: Bellairs R, Gray EG (eds) Essays on the nervous system. Clarendon, Oxford, pp 71–105
Majumdar S, Mills E, Smith PG (1983) Degenerative and regenerative changes in central projections of glossopharyngeal and vagal sensory neurons after peripheral axotomy in cats: a structural basis for central reorganization of arterial chemoreflex pathways. Neuroscience 10:841–849
McComas AJ (1963) Responses of the rat dorsal column system to mechanical stimulation of the hind paw. J Physiol (Lond) 166:435–448
Moradian GP, Rustioni A (1977) Transganglionic degeneration in the dorsal horn and dorsal column nuclei of adult rats. Anat Rec 187:660
Narlieva N (1988) Multilamellar glial envelopes of synapses in the pontine nuclei of the cat. Acta Anat 131:227–230
Odutola AB (1977) Patterns and fields of dorsal column fiber terminals in the cuneo-gracile nuclei of the rat. Exp Neurol 57:112–120
Otto D, Unsicker K, Grothe C (1987) Pharmacological effects of nerve growth factor and fibroblast growth factor applied to the transectioned sciatic nerve on neuron death in adult rat dorsal root ganglia. Neurosci Lett 83:156–160
Perry GW, Wilson DL (1981) Protein synthesis and axonal transport during nerve regeneration. J Neurochem 37:1203–1217
Perry V, Gordon S (1988) Macrophages and microglia in the nervous system. Trends Neurosci 11:273–277
Ranson SW (1906) Retrograde degeneration in the spinal nerves. J Comp Neurol Psychol 16:265–293
Ranson SW (1909) Alterations in the spinal ganglion cells following neurotomy. J Comp Neurol Psychol 19:125–153
Rich KM, Yip HK, Osborne PA, Schmidt RE, Johnson EM Jr (1984) Role of nerve growth factor in the adult dorsal root ganglia neuron and its response to injury. J Comp Neurol 230:110–118
Rich KM, Luszczynski JR, Osborne PA, Johnson EM Jr (1987) Nerve growth factor protects adult sensory neurons from cell death and atrophy caused by nerve injury. J Neurocytol 16:261–268
Richardson PM, Issa VMK (1984) Peripheral injury enhances central regeneration of primary sensory neurones. Nature 309: 791–793
Richardson PM, Verge VMK (1986) The induction of a regenerative propensity in sensory neurons following peripheral axonal injury. J Neurocytol 15: 585–594
Risling M, Aldskogius H, Hildebrand C, Remahl S (1983) Effects of sciatic nerve resection on L7 spinal roots and dorsal root ganglia in adult cats. Exp Neurol 82:568–580
Rustioni A, Sotelo C (1974) Synaptic organization of the nucleus gracilis of the cat. Experimental identification of dorsal root fibers and cortical afferents. J Comp Neurol 155:441–468
Schmalbruch H (1987) Loss of sensory neurons after sciatic nerve section in the rat. Anat Rec 219:323–329
Sotelo C, Palay SL (1971) Altered axons and axon terminals in the lateral vestibular nucleus of the rat. Lab Invest 25:653–671
Streit W, Graeber M, Kreutzberg G (1988) Functional plasticity of microglia: a review. Glia 1:301–307
Tan C, Lieberman A (1974) The glomerular synaptic complexes of the rat cuneate nucleus; some ultrastructural observations. J Anat 118:374
Tan CK, Wong WC (1982)The structure and connections of the dorsal column nuclei. In: Harrison RJ, Navaratnam V (eds) Progress in anatomy. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 161–177
Tessler A, Himes BT, Krieger NR, Murray M, Goldberger ME (1985) Sciatic nerve transection produces death of dorsol root ganglion cells and reversible loss of substance P in spinal cord. Brain Res 332:209–218
Valverde F (1966) The pyramidal tract in rodents. A study of its relations with the posterior column nuclei, dorsolateral reticular formation of the medulla oblongata and cervical spinal cord (Golgi and electron microscopic observations). Z Zellforsch Mikrosk Anat 71:297–363
Wen CY, Tan CK, Wong WC (1979) Experimental degeneration of primary afferent terminals in the cuneate nucleus of the monkey (Macaca fascicularis). J Anat 128:709–720
Westrum LE, Canfield RC (1977a) Electron microscopy of degenerating axons and terminals in spinal trigeminal nucleus after tooth pulp extirpations. Am J Anat 149:591–596
Westrum LE, Canfield RC (1977b) Light and electron microscopy of degeneration in the brain stem spinal trigeminal nucleus following tooth pulp removal in adult cats. In: Anderson DJ, Matthews B (eds) Pain in the trigeminal region. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam New York, pp 171–179
Woolf CJ, Reynolds ML, Molander C, O'Brien C, Lindsay RM, Benowitz LI (1990) The growth-associated protein GAP-43 appears in dorsal root ganglion cells and in the dorsal horn of the rat spinal cord following peripheral nerve injury. Neuroscience 34:465–478
Ygge J, Aldskogius H (1984) Intercostal nerve transection and its effect on the dorsal root ganglion. A quantitative study on thoracic ganglion cell numbers and sizes in the rat. Exp Brain Res 55:402–408
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Persson, J.K.E., Aldskogius, H., Arvidsson, J. et al. Ultrastructural changes in the gracile nucleus of the rat after sciatic nerve transection. Anat Embryol 184, 591–604 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00942581
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00942581