[Skeletal muscle ultrastructural pathology in bovine paraplegic syndrome]

This study reports the ultrastructural alterations found in biopsies taken from fast twitch gastrocnemius and slow twitch soleus muscles from bovines affected by the paraplegic syndrome. The abnormalities observed were contractile and sarcotubular systems disorganization, proliferation of autophagic vacuoles with mitochondrial material and glycogenosomes, decrease of nuclear chromatin electron density, and sacrolemmal damage in areas of segmental necrosis where macrophages were also seen. Capillary alterations were slight. Mentioned abnormalities are discussed in connection with mineral nutritional deficiences presented by the studied animals.