title: Ultrastructural changes in granule cell somata and mossy fibers of the rat hippocampus during picrotoxin-induced convulsions.
abstract: Ultrastructural changes in hippocampal granule cells, mossy fibers and mossy fiber boutons were examined following the administration of picrotoxin in adult rats. Generalized seizures occurred within 5-10 min after the intraperitoneal injection of picrotoxin. The electron-microscopic examination of hippocampal tissues from rats that had been perfused with fixative during the seizure revealed that the large dense-core vesicles increased in number and accumulated on the presynaptic membranes of mossy fiber boutons; some of these vesicles appeared to be fused with the membranes, and omega-shaped exocytotic profiles were frequently seen. Furthermore, greatly increased numbers of coated vesicles (60-90 nm in diameter) were observed on the maturing faces of Golgi fields of granule cells. Thus, our study not only indicates an increased incidence of exocytosis of large dense-core vesicles during picrotoxin-induced seizures, but also suggests that these vesicles are replaced in excess from the perikaryon of the granule cell.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Okayama University Medical School, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mizukawa
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Otsuka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D010852:Picrotoxin; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D010852:Picrotoxin