An ultrastructural study of spinal nerve roots and dorsal root ganglia in aging rats with spontaneous radiculoneuropathy.

The spinal nerve roots and dorsal ganglia of 104- to 135-week-old rats with spontaneous radiculoneuropathy were examined by light and electron microscopy. Demyelination was common in myelinated fibers of various diameters of both ventral and dorsal roots. The most striking alteration was wide distention of myelin sheaths, which extended throughout the entire internode. The spaces formed between separated lamellae frequently were invaded by macrophages. Subsequent vesicular degeneration of myelin seemed to be mediated by invading macrophages. These processes caused complete myelin destruction, but most axons showed no degenerative changes except for obvious reduction in diameter. Occasionally, there were clumping and partial degradation of neurofilaments and ruptured axolemma in the severely demyelinated axons. A few fibers also were undergoing wallerian-type degeneration, perhaps secondary to the severe demyelinative changes. Remyelinating fibers in various phases of repair were coexistent with markedly demyelinated ones. Demyelinative changes described above also developed within some of these remyelinated internodes. There were no remarkable changes in neurons of the dorsal root ganglia, though accumulation of lipofuscin was common. Our findings suggest that the changes in the nerve roots are essentially a primary segmental demyelination in aging rats with radiculoneuropathy.