Figure 2

Effects of ventral root reimplantation and lithium on the survival of avulsedmotoneurons as revealed by the ChAT-immunofluorescence reaction at 20 weeks post-reimplantation. Representative micrographs of ipsilateral C7 (A-E) and C8 (F-J) spinal cross sections showing ChAT-positive motoneurons present in the ventral horn of animals in the normal control (A, F), Av + PBS (B, G), Av + Li (C, H), Re + PBS (D, I), and Re + Li (E, J) treated subgroups. The MNs showing a cytoplasm stained with the ChAT antibody and a visible nucleus were counted (arrows) on both sides of each C7 and C8 ventral horn (the outline) under a 20× objective lens. Scale bar = 100 μm. (K-L): The percentage of the number of ChAT-positive motoneurons in the C7 (K) and C8 (L) ventral horns (ipsilateral normalized to contralateral) was compared among all the subgroups. Lithium alone saved some of the affected motoneurons. Lithium plus reimplantation resulted in significantly more of the affected motoneurons surviving the avulsion injury compared to those that underwent single lithium or single reimplantation surgery. *p < 0.05, compared to the Av + PBS subgroup, ^p < 0.05 compared to the Re + Li subgroup.