title: Immunocytochemical and ultrastructural evidence of dendritic degeneration in motor neurons of aluminum-intoxicated rabbits.
abstract: Using immunocytochemical and ultrastructural methods, we observed extensive and characteristic dendritic changes in motor neurons of rabbits inoculated intracisternally with aluminum phosphate. Anti-microtubule-associated protein 2 immunostaining revealed markedly reduced immunoreactivity in motor neuron dendrites and a reduced number of dendritic trees in aluminum phosphate-intoxicated rabbits. These dendritic changes were confirmed at the ultrastructural level; neurofilamentous accumulations, membranous inclusions and disrupted microtubules were common features of motor neuron axons. These observations suggest that dendrites are characteristically involved in aluminum intoxication in addition to the widely reported accumulation of phosphorylated neurofilament in perikarya and axons.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Central Nervous System Studies, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wakayama
authors.forename: V R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Nerurkar
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Garruto
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000633:toxicity*; D017607:Aluminum Compounds; D000818:Animals; D003712:Dendrites / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D010710:Phosphates / Q000633:toxicity*; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D017607:Aluminum Compounds; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D010710:Phosphates; D000535:Aluminum; C012714:aluminum phosphate