Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (5)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (5)
Document Type
- Journal article (4)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
Keywords
- small fiber neuropathy (4)
- skin punch biopsy (2)
- Corneale confocale Mikroskopie (1)
- Evoziertes Potenzial (1)
- Genetik (1)
- Hautstanzbiopsie (1)
- Intraepidermale Nervenfaserdichte (1)
- Konfokale Mikroskopie (1)
- Mikroneurographie (1)
- Nervenfaser (1)
- Neuropathischer Schmerz (1)
- Quantitative sensorische Testung (1)
- Quantitativer sudomotorischer Axonreflextest (1)
- Schmerz-assoziierte evozierte Potenziale (1)
- Schwann cell (1)
- Sensorik <Neurophysiologie> (1)
- Small Fiber Neuropathie (1)
- algorithm (1)
- clinical phenotype (1)
- cytokines (1)
- diagnosis (1)
- differential diagnosis (1)
- fibromyalgia syndrome (1)
- gene expression (1)
- innervation (1)
- intraepidermal nerve fiber density (1)
- neurological examination (1)
- neuropathic pain (1)
- pain pattern (1)
- small-fiber neuropathy (1)
- white blood cells (1)
Institute
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.