Immunohistochemical studies in Wistar rats (n = 4) addressed the effects of capsaicin on the morphometric and structural characteristics of 28-kDa calbindin (CB)-containing neurons in the posterior horn of the gray matter of segment TII of the spinal cord (SC) and the second thoracic spinal nerve sensory ganglion (SNSG). Capsaicin was given to adult animals as three doses with intervals of 24 h, totaling 125 mg/kg, and specimens were collected on day 14. Administration of capsaicin decreased the proportion of CB-immunopositive (CB-IP) neurons in the SNSG (by 60%) and in laminae I, II, and III of the posterior horn (by 8%, 18%, and 15%, respectively); mean CB-IP neuron size increased as a result of intracellular edema. Deafferentation led to the development of consistent morphometric and structural changes in CB-IP neurons both in the SNSG and in the posterior horn of the gray matter of the SC, with central chromatolysis, and nuclear and cytoplasmic vacuolization, providing evidence of hydropic dystrophy. The irreversibility of these changes in SNSG neurons and laminae I, II and V of the posterior horn of the SC was evidenced by deformation of nuclei, lysis of nucleoli, and decreases in the numbers of CB-containing neurons, along with signs of neuronophagia, with the formation of residual nodules at the sites of dead cells.
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Translated from Morfologiya, Vol. 146, No. 6, pp. 26–32, November–December, 2014.
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Shilkin, V.V., Porseva, V.V., Maslyukov, P.M. et al. Changes in Calbindin-Containing Neurons in the Posterior Horn of the Gray Matter of the Spinal Cord and the Sensory Ganglion of a Spinal Nerve in White Rats after Sensory Deprivation. Neurosci Behav Physi 45, 980–985 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-015-0174-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-015-0174-9