TY  - JOUR
A1  - Evdokimov, Dimitar
A1  - Dinkel, Philine
A1  - Frank, Johanna
A1  - Sommer, Claudia
A1  - Üçeyler, Nurcan
T1  - Characterization of dermal skin innervation in fibromyalgia syndrome
T2  - PLoS One
N2  - Introduction
We characterized dermal innervation in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) as potential contribution to small fiber pathology.

Methods
Skin biopsies of the calf were collected (86 FMS patients, 35 healthy controls). Skin was immunoreacted with antibodies against protein gene product 9.5, calcitonine gene-related peptide, substance P, CD31, and neurofilament 200 for small fiber subtypes. We assessed two skin sections per patient; on each skin section, two dermal areas (150 x 700 mu m each) were investigated for dermal nerve fiber length (DNFL).

Results
In FMS patients we found reduced DNFL of fibers with vessel contact compared to healthy controls (p<0.05). There were no differences for the other nerve fiber subtypes.

Discussion
We found less dermal nerve fibers in contact with blood vessels in FMS patients than in controls. The pathophysiological relevance of this finding is unclear, but we suggest the possibility of a relationship with impaired thermal tolerance commonly reported by FMS patients.
KW  - nerve-fibers
KW  - cutaneous innervation
KW  - substance-P
KW  - pain
KW  - classification
KW  - reinnervation
KW  - expression
KW  - diagnosis
KW  - epidermis
KW  - criteria
Y1  - 2020
UR  - https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/22929
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-229299
VL  - 15
IS  - 1
ER  -