[Changes due to age in the regenerating axons of the adult rat].

Muscle reinnervation after nerve crush was observed in rats at different ages with a combined technique that simultaneously demonstrates nerve endings and endplates. At early times of reinnervation the amount of sprouting was higher in older rats than in younger rats; according to this finding an enhanced number of polyinnervated endplates was found in older rats. A similar enhancement of sprouting and polyinnervation was observed during muscle reinnervation of vitamin E deficient rats, supporting the proposed analogy between vitamin E deficiency and aging.