Re-utilization of Schwann cells during ingrowth of ventral root afferents in perinatal kittens

Afferent mechanism in the urinary tract

Much of the current research on lower urinary tract dysfunction is focused on afferent mechanisms. The main goals are to define and modulate the signaling pathways by which afferent information is generated and conveyed to the central nervous system. Alterations in bladder afferent mechanisms are a potential source of voiding dysfunction and an emerging source of drug targets. Even some established drug therapies such as muscarinic receptor antagonists, as well as emerging therapies such as botulinum toxin type-A, may act partly through afferent mechanisms. This review presents up-to-date findings on the localization of afferent fiber types within the bladder wall, afferent receptors and transmitters, and how these may communicate with the urothelium, interstitial cells, and detrusor smooth muscle to regulate micturition in normal and pathological bladders. Peripheral and central mechanisms of afferent sensitization and myogenic mechanisms that lead to detrusor overactivity, overactive bladder symptoms, and urgency sensations are also covered as well as new therapeutic approaches and new and established methods of measuring afferent activity.

Observations at the CNS-PNS Border of Ventral Roots Connected to a Neuroma

Previous studies have shown that numerous sprouts originating from a neuroma, after nerve injury in neonatal animals, can invade spinal nerve roots. However, no study with a focus on how such sprouts behave when they reach the border between the central and peripheral nervous system (CNS–PNS border) has been published. In this study we have in detail examined the CNS–PNS border of ventral roots in kittens with light and electron microscopy after early postnatal sciatic nerve resection. A transient ingrowth of substance P positive axons was observed into the CNS, but no spouts remained 6 weeks after the injury. Using serial sections and electron microscopy it was possible to identify small bundles of unmyelinated axons that penetrated from the root fascicles for a short distance into the CNS. These axons ended blindly, sometimes with a growth cone-like terminal swelling filled with vesicles. The axon bundles were accompanied by p75 positive cells in both the root fascicles and the pia mater, but not in the CNS. It may thus be suggested that neurotrophin presenting p75 positive cells could facilitate axonal growth into the pia mater and that the lack of such cells in the CNS compartment might contribute to the failure of growth into the CNS. A maldevelopment of myelin sheaths at the CNS–PNS border of motor axons was observed and it seems possible that this could have consequences for the propagation of action potential across this region after neonatal nerve injury. Thus, in this first detailed study on the behavior of recurrent sprouts at the CNS–PNS border.