- Email: [email protected]
The above letter was shown to Drs. Kim and Manuelidis whose reply is printed below
Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 1989, 94:325-326
325
Elsevier JNS 03273
L e t t e r to the Editor
Dendritic varicosities Dear Sir,
The paper by Kim and Manuelidis published recently in this journal [ 1] shows a conspicuous disregard for or unfamiliarity with relevant data which have been part of the body of neurological knowledge for quite a few years. The dendrite varicosities noted by Kim and Manuelidis were called "6tat morbilliforme" by Soukhanoff [2], and have been described by Monti [3], Burkley [4], and Dunmore [5] as a (non-specific) effect of morphine, chloral hydrate, chloroform, cachexia and epilepsy. Ramon y Cajal [6] regarded the dendritic morbilliform state as a fixation artifact. The absence of an ultrastructural study of the changes noted by Kim and Manuelidis in the cortical dendrites of their hamsters underlines the notion that Golgi studies may yield pretty pictures but fail to deepen insight.
REFERENCES
D. TROOST,M.D. Neuropathology Department Academic Medical Center Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I Kim,J.H. and E.E. Manuelidis (1989) Neuronal alterations in experimental Creutzfeldt-Jakobdisease: a Golgi study. J. Neurol. Sci., 89: 93-101. 2 Soukhanoff, S. (1898) Cellule, 14: 387-397. 3 Monti, A. (1895)Arch. ltal. BioL, 24: 347-360. 4 Burkley, H.I.J. (1897)Johns Hopkins Hosp. Rep., 6: 1-88. 5 Dunmore, J. (1889) Ann. Soc. Med. Nat. Bruxelles, 7: 205-250. 6 Ram6n y Cajal, S. R. Y. (1952-1955) Histologiedu Syst~me Nerveux de l'Homme et des Vertebras,vol. 2, Inst. Ram6n y Cajal, Madrid.
The above letter was shown to Drs. Kim and Manuelidis whose reply is printed below: Dear Sir,
It was not our intention to write a comprehensive review on the nonspecific nature of "the varicosities" in our article [1]. We hope the author of the above Letter to the Editor (the writer's name was not provided to us) has enough practical experience to understand that limiting the number of references frequently has nothing to do with "a conspicuous disregard" or "unfamiliarity". The nature and scope of our article did not allow us to cite all the old references as quoted in his Letter nor was it necessary to. One of the references cited in our article fully covers that area [2]. In fact, there are many 0022-510x/89/$03.50 © 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division)
326 more references on the "varicosities" than what was enumerated in the Letter. To meet the editorial decision on the length of our manuscript, we also revised the manuscript by reducing its pages from 17 to 13, and by eliminating 7 references. One of the articles cited in the Letter to the Editor [ 3 ] was also an unfortunate victim. Since the term "varicosities" has been used by some to describe the non-specific dendritic changes encountered every day, we carefully avoided using it for focal axonal and dendritic swellings observed in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease as shown in our article. Also, in our article we clearly showed that the dendritic and axonal swellings were unique and different from those non-specific dendritic "varicosities". We did not have Golgi-EM studies on the swellings at the time of publication of the article, but we duly exercised our effort to correlate the Golgi findings with those of conventional EM studies which our laboratory has an extensive experience with. The significance of our Golgi findings in CJD was amply presented in the discussion. We would certainly feel flattered if some of our Golgi figures are considered pretty. Should scientific figures be always sterile and esthetically unpleasing to convey meaningful data? JUNG H. KIM, M.D. ELIAS E. MANUELIDIS, M.D. Section of Neuropathology Yale University School of Medicine
REFERENCES 1 Kim, J.H. and E.E. Manuelidis (1989) Neuronal alterations in experimental Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. J. NeuroL Sci., 89: 93-101. 2 Williams, R. S., R. J. Ferrante and V. S. Caviness (1978 ) The Golgi rapid method in clinical neuropathology: the morphologic consequences of subnormal fixation. J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol., 37: 13-33. 3 Ram6n y Cajal, S. (1952, 1955 reprint) Histologie du Systdme Nerveux de l'Homme et des Vertebras, Vols. I & II. Inst. Ram6n y Cajal, Madrid.
(Received 24 August, 1989) (Accepted 24 August, 1989)
325
Elsevier JNS 03273
L e t t e r to the Editor
Dendritic varicosities Dear Sir,
The paper by Kim and Manuelidis published recently in this journal [ 1] shows a conspicuous disregard for or unfamiliarity with relevant data which have been part of the body of neurological knowledge for quite a few years. The dendrite varicosities noted by Kim and Manuelidis were called "6tat morbilliforme" by Soukhanoff [2], and have been described by Monti [3], Burkley [4], and Dunmore [5] as a (non-specific) effect of morphine, chloral hydrate, chloroform, cachexia and epilepsy. Ramon y Cajal [6] regarded the dendritic morbilliform state as a fixation artifact. The absence of an ultrastructural study of the changes noted by Kim and Manuelidis in the cortical dendrites of their hamsters underlines the notion that Golgi studies may yield pretty pictures but fail to deepen insight.
REFERENCES
D. TROOST,M.D. Neuropathology Department Academic Medical Center Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I Kim,J.H. and E.E. Manuelidis (1989) Neuronal alterations in experimental Creutzfeldt-Jakobdisease: a Golgi study. J. Neurol. Sci., 89: 93-101. 2 Soukhanoff, S. (1898) Cellule, 14: 387-397. 3 Monti, A. (1895)Arch. ltal. BioL, 24: 347-360. 4 Burkley, H.I.J. (1897)Johns Hopkins Hosp. Rep., 6: 1-88. 5 Dunmore, J. (1889) Ann. Soc. Med. Nat. Bruxelles, 7: 205-250. 6 Ram6n y Cajal, S. R. Y. (1952-1955) Histologiedu Syst~me Nerveux de l'Homme et des Vertebras,vol. 2, Inst. Ram6n y Cajal, Madrid.
The above letter was shown to Drs. Kim and Manuelidis whose reply is printed below: Dear Sir,
It was not our intention to write a comprehensive review on the nonspecific nature of "the varicosities" in our article [1]. We hope the author of the above Letter to the Editor (the writer's name was not provided to us) has enough practical experience to understand that limiting the number of references frequently has nothing to do with "a conspicuous disregard" or "unfamiliarity". The nature and scope of our article did not allow us to cite all the old references as quoted in his Letter nor was it necessary to. One of the references cited in our article fully covers that area [2]. In fact, there are many 0022-510x/89/$03.50 © 1989 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (Biomedical Division)
326 more references on the "varicosities" than what was enumerated in the Letter. To meet the editorial decision on the length of our manuscript, we also revised the manuscript by reducing its pages from 17 to 13, and by eliminating 7 references. One of the articles cited in the Letter to the Editor [ 3 ] was also an unfortunate victim. Since the term "varicosities" has been used by some to describe the non-specific dendritic changes encountered every day, we carefully avoided using it for focal axonal and dendritic swellings observed in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease as shown in our article. Also, in our article we clearly showed that the dendritic and axonal swellings were unique and different from those non-specific dendritic "varicosities". We did not have Golgi-EM studies on the swellings at the time of publication of the article, but we duly exercised our effort to correlate the Golgi findings with those of conventional EM studies which our laboratory has an extensive experience with. The significance of our Golgi findings in CJD was amply presented in the discussion. We would certainly feel flattered if some of our Golgi figures are considered pretty. Should scientific figures be always sterile and esthetically unpleasing to convey meaningful data? JUNG H. KIM, M.D. ELIAS E. MANUELIDIS, M.D. Section of Neuropathology Yale University School of Medicine
REFERENCES 1 Kim, J.H. and E.E. Manuelidis (1989) Neuronal alterations in experimental Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. J. NeuroL Sci., 89: 93-101. 2 Williams, R. S., R. J. Ferrante and V. S. Caviness (1978 ) The Golgi rapid method in clinical neuropathology: the morphologic consequences of subnormal fixation. J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol., 37: 13-33. 3 Ram6n y Cajal, S. (1952, 1955 reprint) Histologie du Systdme Nerveux de l'Homme et des Vertebras, Vols. I & II. Inst. Ram6n y Cajal, Madrid.
(Received 24 August, 1989) (Accepted 24 August, 1989)