Neuromuscular system of piglets with splayleg: the synthesis of acetylcholine and the myelinization and ultrastructure of peripheral nerve fibres.
No difference has been found between the activity of choline acetyltransferase in the sciatic nerve of one-day-old piglets with the syndrome of splayleg and in the sciatic nerve of apparently healthy piglets from the same breed. The maximum rates of total synthesis of acetylcholine in the homogenates of the sartorius, tibialis ant. and peroneus tertius muscles and the bromoacetylcholine -inhibitable portions of the acetylcholine-synthesizing capacity (corresponding to the activity of choline acetyltransferase in intramuscular branches and terminals of the motor nerves) were also the same in both groups of one-day-old animals. The number of myelinated fibres in the peroneal nerve of piglets with splayleg did not differ from that in the control group; it increased by 33% between the first and the seventh day of postnatal life in both groups. The only difference revealed by electron microscopy of the peroneal nerves between the animals with splayleg (or on the 7th day after birth, the animals that had recovered from the condition of splayleg) and the unaffected animals was a higher accumulation of glycogen granules in the axons of animals with splayleg. Biochemical and morphological data obtained in the present study thus support the view that an impairment of the function of peripheral nerves is unlikely to be responsible for the development of the splayleg syndrome.
D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010543:Peroneal Nerve / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
D000109:Acetylcholine