Comparison of Regenerative and Reinnervating Capabilities of Different Functional Types of Nerve Fibers

• Published in: Experimental neurology Vol. 129; no. 2; pp. 217 - 224
• Main Authors: Navarro, Xavier, Verdú, Enrique, Butı́, Miquel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.10.1994; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Female; Hindlimb - innervation; Injuries of the nervous system and the skull. Diseases due to physical agents; Medical sciences; Mice; Muscles - innervation; Nerve Crush; Nerve Fibers - physiology; Nerve Regeneration; Pain; Reference Values; Sciatic Nerve - injuries; Sciatic Nerve - physiology; Skin - innervation; Sweat Glands - innervation; Time Factors; Traumas. Diseases due to physical agents; Peripheral nerve; Nervous system diseases; Rodentia; Motor neuron; Suturation; Section; Trauma; Regeneration; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Mouse; Surgery; Animal; Sensory neuron; Reinnervation; Peripheral nerve disease; Crush
• ISSN: 0014-4886; 1090-2430
• DOI: 10.1006/exnr.1994.1163

Functional reinnervation of sweat glands (SGs), skin, and muscle in the mouse paw after sciatic nerve lesions was evaluated to allow comparisons of the regeneration efficiency of different functional types of nerve fibers. In four groups of mice the sciatic nerve was crushed, sectioned, and left unrepaired or repaired by suture or tubulization. Reappearance of SG secretion and pinprick responses occurred slightly earlier than recordings of compound muscle and nerve action potentials in all groups. The degree of reinnervation, with respect to preoperative control values, of SGs and skin nociceptors was higher than the amplitude of the action potentials, mainly when the nerve injury was severe. The chances for recovery progressively decreased with the severity of the lesion, affecting the larger nerve fibers most. These results indicate that, after injuries of peripheral nerves, all types of nerve fibers are able to regenerate in the mouse, although small size fibers (sudomotor and nociceptive) allow for a higher degree of functional recovery than large myelinated fibers (skeletomotor and sensory).