Previous studies have suggested that sympathetic sprouting in the periphery may contribute to the development and persistence of sympathetically-maintained pain in animal models of neuropathic pain. The purpose of this thesis was to examine morphological changes in the cutaneous innervation in rats after chronic constriction injury (CCI) to the sciatic nerve. More specifically, this study addresses the question of whether sympathetic fibres sprout de novo into the upper dermis of the rat hindpaw skin after CCI of the sciatic nerve. We also determined changes in peptidergic sensory innervation following CCI. / At several periods post-injury, hind paw skin was harvested and processed using a monoclonal antibody against dopamine-beta-hydroxylase to detect sympathetic fibres and a polyclonal antibody against calcitonin gene-related peptide to identify peptidergic sensory fibres. We observed migration and branching of sympathetic fibres into the upper dermis of the hind paw skin, from where they were normally absent. This migration was first detected at 2 weeks, peaked at 4 to 6 weeks and lasted for at least 20 weeks post-lesion. At 8 weeks post-lesion, there was a dramatic increase in the density of peptidergic fibres in the upper dermis. Quantification revealed that densities of peptidergic fibres 8 weeks post-lesion were significantly above levels of sham animals. Interestingly, the ectopic sympathetic fibres did not innervate blood vessels but formed a novel association and wrapped around sprouted peptidergic nociceptive fibres. Our data show a long-term sympathetic and sensory innervation change in the rat hind paw skin after the chronic constriction injury. This novel fibre arrangement after nerve lesion may play an important role in the development and persistence of sympathetically-maintained neuropathic pain after partial nerve lesions.

This study was undertaken to locate and characterise the neurons in the central nervous system that project to the kidney. In particular, the aim was to illustrate and characterise the neural link between regions in the hypothalamus known to influence renal function and fluid balance, and nerves known to innervate the kidney.

Thesis (M.D.S.)--Dept. of Dental, University of Adelaide, 1985. / Some mounted ill. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-190).

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- McMaster University, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-160). Also available via World Wide Web.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2003. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. S.)--Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Wang, Yadong; Committee Member: Philip Santangelo; Committee Member: Ravi Bellamkonda

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1991.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1997. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted.