Ethanol-induced changes in Purkinje cells of the rat cerebellum. I. The ultrastructural changes following chronic ethanol intoxication (qualitative study).

The ultrastructural changes in the Purkinje cells from rat cerebellum following 3 months' ethanol treatment were investigated. The changes in both smooth (SER) and rough (RER) endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, microtubules lipofuscin granules of the Purkinje cells perikarya and of their dendrites were evaluated. The prominent dilatations were found in the hypolemmal cisternae as well as in SER canals. The canals in the lamellar bodies, which are a form of RER, were decreased in number, and sometimes they were disintegrated and dispersed throughout the cytoplasm of both perikarya and dendrites as single distended cisternae. The microtubules within dendrites were often disorderly oriented. The increased amount of lipofuscin granules in the Purkinje cells perikarya were also noticed. Our results suggest that chronic ethanol intoxication lead to disturbances in the synthetic capacity of the Purkinje cells, since the ultrastructure of both SER and RER was greatly changed.