Increased number of unmyelinated fibers in the ventral root after peripheral neurectomy in adult rat.
We examined the possibility that peripheral nerve injury in the adult rat triggers sprouting of unmyelinated ventral root afferent fibers. Three to 5 months after the sciatic nerve was sectioned on one side in the adult rat, myelinated and unmyelinated fibers were counted at 3 sites along the length of the ventral root. A sciatic nerve lesion resulted in about a 3-fold increase in the number of unmyelinated fibers in the L5 ventral root. Our data suggest that a peripheral nerve lesion in the adult rat triggers sprouting of unmyelinated afferent fibers in the ventral root. No evidence was found that dorsal rhizotomy triggers sprouting of afferent fibers.
Nam
S C
SC
Department of Anatomy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77550.
Kim
K J
KJ
Leem
J W
JW
Chung
K
K
Chung
J M
JM
D000818:Animals; D003714:Denervation; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000502:physiology*; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012016:Reference Values; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000502:physiology*