[Effect of a ginseng tissue culture preparation on morphofunctional changes in motor neurons upon activation]

Irritation for 10 min of the posterior spinal root in the frog Rana temporaria (electrical stimulation 50 imp/sec, threshold power 4) results in decreasing size of the motoneurons and their nuclei and in appearing pycnomorphous type of neurons. Simultaneously, peculiar changes in cellular ultrastructure connected with inhibition of protein synthesis are observed. When the ginseng preparation is administered to intact animals, an increased excitability of the spinal centers, as well as increasing volume of the motoneuronal nuclei and certain ultrastructural shifts demonstrating activation of protein synthesis and cellular energy are observed. When the ginseng preparation is preliminary administered to the frogs, before a high-frequency synaptic activation of the motoneurons, it protects the cells from pathological changes and pycnotic shrinkage.