title: Morphological changes in the trigemino-rubral pathway in dystrophic (mdx) mice.
abstract: The lack of dystrophin that causes Duchenne muscle disease affects not only the muscles but also the central nervous system. Dystrophin-deficient mdx mice present changes in several brain fiber systems. We compared the projections from the trigeminal sensory nuclear complex to the red nucleus in control and mdx mice using retrograde tracers. Injection of 200 nL 2% fluorogold into the red nucleus caused labeling in the mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus, the principal sensory nucleus and the oral, interpolar, and caudal subnuclei of the spinal trigeminal nucleus in both control and mdx mice. Injection of latex microbeads labeled with rhodamine and fluorescein gave results similar to those seen with fluorogold. The number of labeled neurons in the trigeminal sensory nuclear complex was significantly reduced in mdx mice. In the oral subnucleus of the spinal trigeminal nucleus this reduction was 50%. These results indicate that the trigemino-rubral pathway is reduced in dystrophin-deficient mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Histology, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Magali Luci
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pinto
authors.forename: Heloisa Helena Vieira Olyntho
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Tokunaga
authors.forename: Caden
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Souccar
authors.forename: Guus H M
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Schoorlemmer
authors.forename: Rita de Cássia Ribeiro da Silva
authors.initials: Rde C
authors.lastname: Lapa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018101:Mice, Inbred mdx; D020388:Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne / Q000473:pathology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000473:pathology*; D012012:Red Nucleus / Q000473:pathology*; D014275:Trigeminal Caudal Nucleus / Q000473:pathology*