Presynaptic inclusions in mossy fibre terminals of the cerebellar cortex following long-term undernutrition in adult rats.

Past work on the C.N.S. of nutritionally deprived immature rats shows widespread structural and functional alterations that were not found in nutritionally deprived adults. In the present work we studied cerebellar mossy fibre terminals of adult rats, given a 8% casein diet for periods of 6, 12 and 18 months. After 12 months of the diet, mossy fibre terminals presented a large number of spherical or disc-shaped membrane-free inclusions herein referred to as presynaptic inclusions, with diameters up to 1.3 micron and formed by fine-textured subunits, compacted into 3 nm strands. This material is an extension of the cytoplasmic network of the terminal. No special relationship was observed with the active zones; synaptic vesicles found in the proximity or embedded in these inclusions were often of the flat type, whereas those close to the active zones always appeared spherical. These results show that even in adult rats synaptic terminals are areas sensitive to protein deprivation.