title: Cell body size and succinate dehydrogenase activity of spinal motoneurons innervating the soleus muscle in mice, rats, and cats.
abstract: The cell body sizes and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) activities of motoneurons in the retrodorsolateral region of the ventral horn in the spinal cord innervating the soleus muscle in mice, rats, and cats were compared using quantitative enzyme histochemistry. There was an inverse relationship between cell body size and SDH activity of motoneurons in the three species. The mean cell body sizes of both gamma and alpha motoneuron pools were in the rank order of mice < rats < cats, while the mean SDH activities of both gamma and alpha motoneuron pools were in the rank order of mice > rats > cats. It is concluded that smaller motoneurons innervating the soleus muscle have higher SDH activities than larger motoneurons, irrespective of the species, and that motoneuron pools innervating the soleus muscle in smaller animals have smaller mean cell body sizes and higher mean SDH activities than those in larger animals.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neurochemistry, Faculty of Integrated Human Studies, Kyoto University, Japan. ishihara@life.h.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ishihara
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohira
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ishioka
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Higashibata
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimazu
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ibata
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D048429:Cell Size; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013045:Species Specificity; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology* / Q000201:enzymology*; D013385:Succinate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013385:Succinate Dehydrogenase