Localization and distribution patterns of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase exhibiting axons in the white matter of the spinal cord of the rabbit.

The funicular distribution of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase (NADPHd)-exhibiting axons was examined in the white matter of the rabbit spinal cord by using horizontal, parasaggital, and transverse sections. Four morphologically distinct kinds of NADPHd-exhibiting axons (2.5-3.5 microm in diameter) were identified in the sulcomarginal fasciculus as a part of the ventral column in the cervical and upper thoracic segments and in the long propriospinal bundle of the ventral column in Th3-L3 segments. Varicose NADPHd-exhibiting axons of the sympathetic preganglionic neurons, characterized by widely spaced varicosities, were found in the ventral column of Th2-L3 segments. A third kind of NADPHd-positive ultrafine axons, 0.3-0.5 microm in diameter with numerous varicosities mostly spherical in shape, was identified in large number within Lissauer's tract. The last group of NADPHd-exhibiting axons (1.0-1.5 microm in diameter) occurred in the Lissauer tract. Most of these axons were traceable for considerable distances and generated varicosities varying in shape from spherical to elliptical forms. The majority of NADPHd-exhibiting axons identified in the cuneate and gracile fascicles were concentrated in the deep portion of the dorsal column. An extremely reduced number of NADPHd-exhibiting axons, confirmed by a computer-assisted image-processing system, was found in the dorsal half of the gracile fascicle. Axonal NADPHd positivity could not be detected in a wide area of the lateral column consistent with the location of the dorsal spinoccrebellar tract. Numerous, mostly thin NADPHd-positive axonal profiles were detected in the dorsolateral funiculus in all the segments studied and in a juxtagriscal portion of the lateral column as far as the cervical and lumbar enlargements. A massive occurrence of axonal NADPHd positivity was detected in the juxtagriseal layer of the ventral column all along the rostrocaudal axis of the spinal cord. The prominent NADPHd-exhibiting bundles containing thick, smooth, nonvaricose axons were identified in the mediobasal and central portion of the ventral column. First, the sulcomarginal fasciculus was found in the basal and medial portion of the ventral column in all cervical and upper thoracic segments. Second, more caudally, a long propriospinal bundle displaying prominent NADPHd positivity was localized in the central portion of the ventral column throughout the Th3-L3 segments.