TY  - JOUR
A1  - Özdağ Acarlı, Ayşe Nur
A1  - Klein, Thomas
A1  - Egenolf, Nadine
A1  - Sommer, Claudia
A1  - Üçeyler, Nurcan
T1  - Subepidermal Schwann cell counts correlate with skin innervation - an exploratory study
JF  - Muscle & Nerve
N2  - Introduction/Aims
Schwann cell clusters have been described at the murine dermis-epidermis border. We quantified dermal Schwann cells in the skin of patients with small-fiber neuropathy (SFN) compared with healthy controls to correlate with the clinical phenotype.
Methods
Skin punch biopsies from the lower legs of 28 patients with SFN (11 men, 17 women; median age, 54 [range, 19-73] years) and 9 healthy controls (five men, four women, median age, 34 [range, 25-69] years) were immunoreacted for S100 calcium-binding protein B as a Schwann cell marker, protein-gene product 9.5 as a pan-neuronal marker, and CD207 as a Langerhans cell marker. Intraepidermal nerve fiber density (IENFD) and subepidermal Schwann cell counts were determined.
Results
Skin samples of patients with SFN showed lower IENFD (P < .05), fewer Schwann cells per millimeter (P < .01), and fewer Schwann cell clusters per millimeter (P < .05) than controls. When comparing SFN patients with reduced (n = 13; median age, 53 [range, 19-73] years) and normal distal (n = 15, median age, 54 [range, 43-68] years) IENFD, the number of solitary Schwann cells per millimeter (p < .01) and subepidermal nerve fibers associated with Schwann cell branches (P < .05) were lower in patients with reduced IENFD. All three parameters correlated positively with distal IENFD (P < .05 to P < .01), whereas no correlation was found between Schwann cell counts and clinical pain characteristics.
Discussion
Our data raise questions about the mechanisms underlying the interdependence of dermal Schwann cells and skin innervation in SFN. The temporal course and functional impact of Schwann cell presence and kinetics need further investigation.
KW  - intraepidermal nerve fiber density
KW  - small-fiber neuropathy
KW  - skin punch biopsy
KW  - Schwann cell
KW  - neuropathic pain
KW  - innervation
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-318726
VL  - 65
IS  - 4
SP  - 471
EP  - 479
ER  -