Localization of cytochrome oxidase in the mammalian spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia, with quantitative analysis of ventral horn cells in monkeys

Abstract

The spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia of mice, rats, cats, squirrel monkeys, and macaque monkeys were examined at both the light and electron microscopic levels for cytochrome oxidase activity. A similar histochemical pattern prevailed in all of the species examined. While the spinal gray exhibited a heterogeneous but consistent distribution of the enzyme, the white matter was only lightly stained. Highly reactive neurons were either singly scattered or aggregated into discrete clusters. The dorsal nucleus of Clarke, the lateral cervical nucleus (cat), the intermediolateral cell columns of the thoracic and upper lumbar levels, and selected groups of ventral horn neurons formed moderate to darkly reactive cell clusters, whereas fusiform and multipolar cells of Waldeyer in the marginal layer, small fusiform neurons in the ventral gray, funicular cells in the white matter, and ventral horn neurons of varying sizes tended to stand out against the neuropil as singly reactive neurons. At the electron microscopic level, reactive neurons were characterized by a greater packing density of darkly reactive mitochondria, while lightly reactive ones had fewer mitochrondria, most of which showed very little reaction product. Reactive mitochondria were also found in the neuropil, mainly in dendritic profiles and some axon terminals. Glial cells, in general, were not very reactive. Ventral horn neurons from three macaque monkeys were measured for somatic areas and optical densities of cytochrome oxidase reaction product. A total of 1,770 neurons from representative sections of the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral cords of these animals were analyzed. The results indicated that the distribution of cell sizes as well as optical densities at every level of the cord fell on a continuum. Analysis of the regression coefficients revealed that the slopes were negative for all levels, indicating that there was a general inverse relationship between cell size and optical densities. However, there were representations of dark, moderate, and lightly reactive neurons in all three size categories (large, medium; and small). Thus, the level of oxidative metabolism of ventral horn neurons cannot be correlated strictly with size, but it is likely to reflect their total synaptic and spontaneous activities. Neurons of the dorsal root ganglia likewise exhibited heterogeneous distribution of cell sizes and levels of enzyme reactivity, while satellite cells, in general, were only lightly reactive. As in the case of the ventral horn, representatives of dark, moderate, and light levels of reactivity occurred in every size category of neurons. The finding was also confirmed at the electron microscopic level. The metabolic variations among ganglionic neurons again suggest a functional subclassification based mainly on their total energy demands, which should be related closely to their combined intrinsic and synaptic activities.