title: Peripheral nerve alterations after spinal cord injury in the adult rat.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess if spinal cord injury (SCI) can produce alterations in axons of peripheral nerves emerging caudal to the injury.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mild/severe contusion or complete transection was performed at T8 in adult rats. The function and morphology of the sciatic nerve were assessed 3 months after the lesion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a decrease in the amplitudes of muscle responses in nerve conduction tests. The number of myelinated fibers was maintained, but some of them presented structural abnormalities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SCIs cause alterations in peripheral axons not affected by the injury. Preservation of the peripheral components is essential for potential regenerative and rehabilitation therapies. Thus, special care has to be taken to avoid secondary complications, due to compressions or immobility, in SCI humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas, Institute of Neurosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Redondo-Castro
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Navarro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004576:Electromyography; D019054:Evoked Potentials, Motor / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000503:physiopathology; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*