title: Sarcoplasmic bodies in distal myopathy compared with nemaline rods.
abstract: Sarcoplasmic bodies in a late onset distal myopathy and rods in nemaline myopathy have been investigated by electron probe X-ray microanalysis correlated to light microscopy. Sarcoplasmic bodies were glassy, drop-shaped structures up to 10 microns of length and easily distinguished in the scanning mode of electron microscopy performed on thick freeze-dried cryosections. They were found to be source of X-ray spectra characterized by a high sulfur peak. On semithin epoxy sections the sarcoplasmic bodies were observed in the scanning transmission mode as electron-dense structures which, according to X-ray microanalysis, exhibited a high sulphur and osmium content, possibly indicating the presence of sulphydryl groups. The nemaline rods were of 3 different types as judged by their light-microscopical appearance. They were, however, not visible in the scanning mode of electron microscopy performed on freeze-dried unstained cryosections. There were small differences in the elemental composition between different rods within the same biopsy but these were not systematically related to the differences in morphological appearance.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D004577:Electron Probe Microanalysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002479:Inclusion Bodies / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles / Q000473:pathology; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D012519:Sarcoplasmic Reticulum / Q000648:ultrastructure*