Pattern of degeneration of the rat inferior olivary complex after the early postnatal axotomy of the olivocerebellar projection.
Neuronal death of inferior olivary neurons after early axotomy of the olivocerebellar tract was studied in newborn (P1) hemicerebellectomized rats during the first six days after lesion. The degeneration of the inferior olive showed a topographic pattern from one (P2) to six days after axotomy (P7), after which this complex had almost completely disappeared. The first degenerative changes were observed in the principal olive (P2), while the medial accessory olive was the later-degenerated area (P5). The analysis of these degenerative changes provides a reference for future experimental studies. Furthermore, the topographic study of the degenerative process demonstrated that: i) the most vulnerable neurons were dorsolaterally located, whereas the most resistant ones occupied the medial aspect of the inferior olivary complex, ii) the comparison between the topographical arrangement of the inferior olivary neurons according to their birth dates, and the rate of degenerative changes observed after hemicerebellectomy, open the possibility that the neuronal generation date and the response to the axotomy of the inferior olivary neurons could be related.
Armengol
J A
JA
Department of Morphological Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Sevilla, Spain.
Lopez-Roman
A
A
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009849:Olivopontocerebellar Atrophies / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats