Quantitative axon terminal and end-plate morphology in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
E. K. Bjornskov, F. H. Norris Jr and J. Mower-Kuby
An axon-end-plate double stain yielded more synaptic detail than the older
methylene blue stain of the muscle biopsy specimen. Application of the
double stain to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis confirmed earlier and
well-known findings of denervation, abnormal end-plates, and axonal
sprouting. Little new data emerged, however, and the sprouting index seemed
to mislead. As in several previous investigations, muscle from normal human
subjects showed evidence for at least past if not current denervation,
substantiating the need for continued rigorous controls in such studies.
