Abstract
The pathology of acute poliomyelitis in monkeys has recently been described by Hurst 1 with special reference to changes in microglia. The object of the investigations reported here has been to supplement the above by a description of the injured nerve cells which so far in the course of the disease have escaped digestion by neuronophages. Thus certain nuclear changes in ventral horn cells and cells of the medulla have been found to follow or occur simultaneously with the more easily recognized cytoplasmic degeneration which may be profound.
Central nervous system tissues of 33 monkeys dead of poliomyelitis, or sacrificed at various stages during the course of the disease, were fixed in Zenker's fluid and stained with Giemsa for routine work. For comparison the tissues of 10 normal monkeys were available. Fixation has been supplemented by methods of Carnoy, Champy, A. O. B., Regaud, etc., and numerous staining methods have been employed including erythrosin-azur, phloxine-methylene blue, hematoxylin-eosin, phosphotungstic hematoxylin, etc. Sections for study were cut 3 to 5μ in thickness.
Areas of the cord showing lesions typical of acute poliomyelitis contain a number of faintly stained nerve cells. The cytoplasm of these cells is badly damaged and in some instances appears to be lacking. The nucleus, on the other hand, is usually severely altered but retains a nuclear membrane. It may be large and clear, presenting an appearance similar to a nuclear change described by Cowdry and Kitchen, 2 Plate V, Fig. 48, for liver cells, in cases of yellow fever. The nucleolus may be absent, broken up and plastered against the nuclear membrane, or displaced in position and ragged in shape. Usually the nucleus of these cells contains one or more acidophilic-staining bodies (Figs. 1-5), definite in their outline, and measuring from about 0.25μ to 3μ in diameter.
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