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.
Chalk
C H
CH
Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University, Quebec, Canada.
Dyck
P J
PJ
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