Summary
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1.
On unilateral injection of sublethal amounts of 125I-tetanus toxin into one gastrocnemius muscle of cats, we found after 24 h:
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a)
A steep gradient of radioactivity (RA) had developed in the sciatic nerve of the injected side only.
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b)
The ventral roots of the spinal cord half segments supplying the injected muscle had a higher RA than the contralateral roots. In some of the cats the same was true to a varying degree for the dorsal roots too.
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c)
The spinal cord half segments supplying the injected muscle had a RA much higher than the contralateral half segments. Within the time of experiments, this surplus RA did not pass to the contralateral side. The rise in RA could be prevented with tetanus antitoxin injected intravenously immediately after the application of toxin or by ligature of the ventral roots.
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2.
On unilateral injection of 125I-tetanus antitoxin or Na125I no difference in RA was found between the spinal cord half segments.
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3.
On unilateral injection of a sublethal dose of 125I-tetanus toxin into the skin of cats at the insertion area of a lateral intercostal nerve we found after 24–48 h: On the injected side in the intercostal nerves the RA is much higher than on the non-injected side. The difference is most prominent at the costal interspace under the toxin depot. The same is true for the spinal cord half segments.
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4.
On bilateral intracutaneous injection of 125I-tetanus toxin and unilateral ligature of the lateral intercostal nerves, the RA in the nerves and spinal cord half segments was lower on the ligated side.
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This work was supported by grant No. We 497/2 from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
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Wellhöner, H.H., Hensel, B. & Seib, U.C. Local tetanus in cats: Neuropharmacokinetics of 125I-tetanus toxin. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 276, 375–386 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00499890
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00499890