Application of immunohistochemical techniques to sural nerve biopsies.
The role of immunohistochemistry in the day-to-day diagnostic work of a peripheral nerve laboratory is not yet clearly established, although for conditions such as amyloid neuropathy, immunohistochemistry appears to be a useful adjunct to conventional techniques. Immunohistochemistry has provided new information about some neuropathies in which immune dysfunction is believed to play a central role. Immunohistochemical data about normal human nerve are scarce; a better appreciation of the normal cellular constituents of nerve, particularly the endoneurium, is needed. In the future, the techniques may be a means to understand better the pathogenesis of other types of neuropathy, such as inherited or toxic neuropathies, or to examine fundamental pathologic events such as axonal degeneration.
Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University, Quebec, Canada.
C H
CH
Chalk
P J
PJ
Dyck
D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000473:pathology; D001706:Biopsy; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000473:pathology*; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D010524:Peripheral Nervous System Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D010488:Polyarteritis Nodosa / Q000473:pathology; D011129:Polyradiculoneuropathy / Q000473:pathology