Evidence for Degeneration of Monoaminergic Fibers in the Spinal Cord of Zitter Mutant Rats.

Abstract

A distribution of abnormal catecholaminergic and serotonergic fibers was in the spinal cord of 12-month-old zitter mutant rats which are characterized by abnormal metabolism of superoxides studied using antisera for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and serotonin. Similar to our previous report [13], abnormal serotonergic fibers characterized by swollen varicosites were observed mainly in the anterior and lateral columns of the cervical and lumber segments of zitter rats. On the other hand, abnormal TH-immunoreactive fibers with swollen varicosities were located in the anterior and lateral funiculus of lumbar and sacral segments of these mutant rats. The present results suggest that the degeneration patterns differ between catecholaminergic and serotonergic fibers in aged-zitter rats.