Although it is known that different types of nerve root insults can produce radicular pain, it is not known whether the neuronal and Schwann cell pathologies in the nerve root vary between inflammation-induced nerve root injury and traumatic compression. This study examined the extent of Wallerian degeneration and associated cellular repair processes in the nerve root in the context of mechanic...

Purpose To examine the neuronal structural integrity of cornea and retina as markers for neuronal degeneration in nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). Methods Participants were recruited from the broader Brisbane community, Queensland, Australia. Two hundred forty-one participants (187 with diabetes and 54 nondiabetic controls) were examined. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) was graded acco...

The pattern of primary auditory projections to the brain stem of young chickens was investigated using terminal degeneration methods and orthograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or tritiated amino acid. Of particular interest was the question of whether nucleus laminaris (NL) receives primary afferents. A study of silver-stained degeneration pattersn in nucleus magnocellularis (NM) ...

Therapies that might delay degeneration of synapses offer an appealing strategy for treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, prion diseases, schizophrenia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Analysis of mouse mutants provides one possible avenue towards identifying relevant mechanisms. Here, we used quantitative and serial section electron mic...

We investigated the usefulness of YFP-H transgenic mice [Neuron 28 (2000) 41] which express yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) in a restricted subset of neurons to study Wallerian degeneration in the PNS. Quantification of YFP positive axons and myelin basic protein (MBP) immunocytochemistry revealed that YFP was randomly distributed to approximately 3% of myelinated motor and sensory fibres. Axo...

Our group has shown that the polysaccharides extracted from Lycium barbarum (LBP) are neuroprotective for retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in different animal models. Protecting RGCs from secondary degeneration is a promising direction for therapy in glaucoma management. The complete optic nerve transection (CONT) model can be used to study primary degeneration of RGCs, while the partial optic ner...

Purpose To evaluate whether corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) detects axonal degeneration and whether this is associated with retinal nerve fiber degeneration and clinical disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods Twenty-five patients with MS and 25 healthy control subjects underwent CCM, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and assessment of neurological disability using th...

BASIC CONSIDERATIONS Optic atrophy is a misleading term which, embedded by tradition and usage, resists precise definition. It is used when there is excessive pallor of the optic disc and is thus a physical sign and not a diagnosis. Since there are many causes of optic pallor, the term is usually reserved for those cases in which there is associated visual defect, either of fields or acuity, in...

Wallerian degeneration in the CNS and PNS consists of degradation and phagocytosis of axons and their myelin sheath distal to the site of injury. This process of degeneration, which requires an effective macrophage response, occurs rapidly in peripheral nerves but is slow in the CNS. Rapid Wallerian degeneration in peripheral nerves may contribute to subsequent axonal regeneration. We show that...

INTRODUCTION In chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), exclusion of secondary axonal degeneration is challenging with conventional methods such as nerve conduction study (NCS), needle electromyography, and nerve biopsy. Increased echo intensity (EI) and decreased muscle thickness (MT) identified on muscle ultrasound (MUS) examination represent muscle denervation due to axonal...