Mechanism of the "dark" axonal degeneration in the central nervous system
Pál, J.óz.; Gallyas, F.
Ideggyogyaszati Szemle 67(9-10): 323-330
2014
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-1442 PMID: 25518260 Document Number: 672066
In the central nervous tissue, two types of transsection-resulted axonal degeneration are generally accepted: "watery" and "dark". The present paper deals with the assumption that the mechanism of this kind of "dark" axonal degeneration has a relationship with that of the "dark" neuronal degeneration. A minute stab wound is inflicted in the parietal cortex of the rat brain. From 1 h to 3 months postinjury, the resulted ultrastructural events in two distant regions of the corticospinal tract (internal capsule and C3 region of the corticospinal tract) are studied. As a novel finding, the first morphological process of "dark" axonal degeneration was found to consists in a striking reduction of the distances between neighboring neurofilaments, which were readily distinguishable and apparently undamaged. This pattern (compacted ultrastructure) persisted for hours. By day 1 postinjury, the compacted axoplasmic elements aggregated into a homogenous and dense ("dark") mass in which hardly any ultrastructural elements could be distinguished. Surrounded by apparently normal or mildly abnormal myelin sheat, this mass underwent a non-isotropic shrinkage during the next three months. Morphological signs of phagocytosis were insignificant. The ultrastructural events during the first day post-injury suggest a non-enzymatic mechanism as an alternative to the prevailing molecular-biological mechanism.