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Ultrastructural changes in the dorsal root and trigeminal ganglia of rats poisoned with methyl mercury Rats have been dosed with methyl mercury chloride (7.5 mg/kg/day) for 8 days. The dorsal root and trigeminal ganglion cells have been studied by light and electron microscopy from 24 hours after the first dose to the 10th day. Earliest changes were found certainly at day 2 and possibly at day 1 and were confined to focal areas in the periphery of certain Type A cells in which ribosomes were lost from the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER). Accumulations of dispersed granular material accompanied these earliest changes. After 4 days, changes in nuclear and perinuclear structures occurred just before or at the onset of axon degeneration, and may not be reactive to this event. These findings can be correlated with the defect in amino acid incorporation that occurs before axon degeneration.
Jacobs et al. (Wed,) studied this question.