Metabolic properties of the sensory neurons in the rat dorsal root ganglion.

Abstract

The dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons were classified in the rat on the basis of their metabolic enzyme properties as determined by quantitative analysis in histochemical staining. In particular, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-diaphorase (NADH-d) and alpha-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (alpha-GPD) activities were examined on two serial sections from the same neurons in the lumbar (L4) DRG. The DRG neurons were classified into three groups based on the soma diameter distribution; small, intermediate and large size DRG neurons. The NADH-d activity showed a unimodal distribution in all size groups, while the alpha-GPD activity clearly showed a bimodal distribution in the intermediate and large size neurons, but not in the small size neurons.