title: Expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase in spinal motoneurons in aged rats.
abstract: We investigated the expression of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in motoneurons of aged rats by the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-diaphorase (NADPH-d) reaction. The number of NADPH-d positive neurons (i.e. presumed motoneurons) in the motor nucleus at L4-L6 level of the spinal cord was 0.0 +/- 0.0 for 13- to 15-month-old rats, 2.2 +/- 0.8 for 24-month-old rats, and 7.9 +/- 5.4 for 29- to 32-month-old rats. These NADPH-d positive neurons were multipolar in shape and the soma cross-sectional area was 820 +/- 245 mu2 (n = 56; range, 359-1460 mu2) which was similar to the value for alpha-motoneurons. The results indicate that nitric oxide (NO) may be produced by a few motoneurons in the aged rat spinal cord and may lead these neurons to eventual death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Central Nervous System, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanda
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase