title: Experimental phenylketonuria: effect of phenylacetate intoxication on number of synapses in the cerebellar cortex of the rat.
abstract: In experimental phenylketonuria, induced in the rat by exposure to phenylacetate during the first 21 days of life, there was a significant reduction of boutons, a decrease of an average of 25% in the whole cerebellar molecular layer. Both the density of synaptic profiles per square unit and the number of synapses per unit volume were decreased in the phenylacetate-treated rat as compared to the age-matched control. Neuronal density was unaffected. Results are interpreted to show a deficit of synapses per neuron, probably due to a decrease in synaptic formation in phenylacetate-induced phenylketonuria. Undernutrition was eliminated as a contributing factor.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002525:Cerebellar Cortex / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D010648:Phenylacetates / Q000633:toxicity*; D010661:Phenylketonurias / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D013569:Synapses
chemical_list: D010648:Phenylacetates