Hart, Andrew McKay (2001) Peripheral nerve injury: primary sensory neuronal death & regeneration after chronic nerve injury. MD thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4472/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/
[email protected] Peripheral Nerve Injury: Primary Sensory Neuronal Death & Regeneration After Chronic Nerve Injury Thesis Submittedfor Doctor of Medicine University ofGlasgow June 2001 Mr. Andrew MCKay Hart BSc. M.R.C.S. A.F.R.C.S. Blond-lvflndoe Centre, Royal Free University College Medical School, London, u.K. Department ofSurgical & Perioperative Science, Section for Hand & Plastic Surgery, Umea University, Sweden Abstract Peripheral nerve trauma remains a major cause of morbidity, healthcare expenditure, and social disruption, largely because the death of up to 50% of primary sensory neurons ensures that sensory outcome remains overwhelmingly poor despite major advances in surgical technique. Hence the principal aim of this project was to identifY novel, clinically applicable strategies for the prevention of sensory neuronal death after peripheral nerve injury. After a defined unilateral sciatic nerve transection in the rat, a novel triple staining technique was employed in order to enable the detection of neuronal death in L4 & L5 dorsal root ganglia by light microscopic morphology, and TdT Uptake Nick-End Labelling (TUNEL).