VITAMIN-E AFFECTS QUANTITATIVE AGE-CHANGES IN LUMBAR MOTONEURONS AND IN THEIR PERIPHERAL PROJECTIONS

Vitamin E deficiency was previously found to induce plastic changes in the number of primary sensory neurons and in motoneuron peripheral fi eld projections. In this work, quantitative changes in motoneurons of lumbar segments, in nerve fibres constituting ventral roots and in inn ervating leg motor fibres were studied in normal and vitamin E deficie nt rats from 1 to 5 months of age. The number of lumbar motoneurons wa s found to decrease, while there were no changes in the number of vent ral root fibres. An increase in the number of innervating leg motor fi bres was observed during ageing in control rats; in vitamin E deficien t rats the number of fibres in the ventral roots did not change, as oc curred in controls, but the decrease in the number of motoneurons was smaller and the number of innervating leg motor fibres increased furth er in comparison to the controls. The findings are consistent with the idea that vitamin E deficiency causes a decrease in motoneuron death or, alternatively, that it induces some process partially compensating naturally occurring motoneuron death. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Irela nd Ltd.