title: Increased number of unmyelinated fibers in the ventral root after peripheral neurectomy in adult rat.
abstract: 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.
authors: Department of Anatomy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77550.
authors: S C
authors: SC
authors: Nam
authors: K J
authors: KJ
authors: Kim
authors: J W
authors: JW
authors: Leem
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Chung
authors: J M
authors: JM
authors: Chung
mesh_terms: 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*