Ethanol-induced changes in Purkinje cells of rat cerebellum. II. The ultrastructural changes after chronic ethanol intoxication. (Morphometric evaluation).

The morphometric approach to evaluation of some organelles of the rat cerebellar Purkinje cells after chronic ethanol intoxication according to the previously elaborated model (Jedrzejewska et al. 1990) was employed. In the experimental rats volumes of both the perikarya and nuclei in the Purkinje cells significantly increased. The quantitative, morphometric changes of both rough and smooth endoplasmic reticulum demonstrated, that in the perikarya and dendrites of the Purkinje cells the volume of rough endoplasmic reticulum decreased and the volume of smooth endoplasmic reticulum increased. The number of lipofuscin granules in the perikarya increased whereas the counts of microtubules per unit area in dendrites decreased. The statistical evaluation of parameters describing mitochondria and Golgi apparatus in ethanol-intoxicated animals did not show significant differences as compared with the control ones.