Top

Published in:

01-06-2016 | Original Article

Morphometric analysis of the diameter and g-ratio of the myelinated nerve fibers of the human sciatic nerve during the aging process

Authors: Sladjana Ugrenović, Ivan Jovanović, Ljiljana Vasović, Braca Kundalić, Rade Čukuranović, Vladisav Stefanović

Published in: Anatomical Science International | Issue 3/2016

Abstract

Myelinated nerve fibers suffer from different degrees of atrophy with age. The success of subsequent regeneration varies. The aim of this research was to analyze myelinated fibers of the human sciatic nerve during the aging process. Morphometric analysis was performed on 17 cases with an age range from 9 to 93 years. The outer and inner diameter of 100 randomly selected nerve fibers was measured in each of the cases evaluated, and the g-ratio (axonal diameter/outer diameter of the whole nerve fiber) of each was calculated. Scatter plots of the diameters and g-ratios of the analyzed fibers were then analyzed. Nerve fibers of each case were classified into three groups according to the g-ratio values: group I (g-ratio lower than 0.6), group II (g-ratio from 0.6 to 0.7) and group III (g-ratio higher than 0.7). Afterwards, nerve fibers of group II were further classified into small and large subgroups. The percentages of each group of nerve fibers were computed for each case and these values were used for correlational and bivariate linear regression analysis. The percentage of myelinated nerve fibers with large diameter and optimal g-ratio of the sciatic nerve declines significantly with age. This is accompanied by a simultaneous significant increase in the percentage of small myelinated fibers with g-ratio values close to 1 that occupy the upper left quadrant of the scatter plot. It can be concluded that aging of the sciatic nerve is associated with significant atrophy of large myelinated fibers. Additionally, a significant increase in regenerated nerve fibers with thinner myelin sheath is observed with age, which, together with the large myelinated fiber atrophy, might be the cause of the age-related decline in conduction velocity. A better understanding of the changes in aging peripheral nerves might improve interpretation of their pathological changes, as well as comprehension of their regeneration in individuals of different age.

Asbury AK, Johnson PC (1978) Pathology of peripheral nerve. Saunders, Philadelphia

Atkinson CJ, Santer RM (1999) Quantitative studies on myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibers in the interatrial septal region of aged rat hearts. J Auton Nerv Syst 77:172–176CrossRef

Azcoitia I, Leonelli E, Magnaghi V, Veiga S, Garcia-Segura LM, Melcangi RC (2003) Progesterone and its derivatives dihydroprogesterone and tetrahydroprogesterone reduce myelin fiber morphological abnormalities and myelin fiber loss in the sciatic nerve of aged rats. Neurobiol Aging 24:853–860CrossRefPubMed

Bosboom WM, van den Berg LH, Franssen H et al (2001) Diagnostic value of sural nerve demyelination in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy. Brain 124(Pt 12):2427–2438CrossRefPubMed

Ceballos D, Cuadras J, Verdu E, Navarro X (1999) Morphometric and ultrastructural changes with ageing in mouse peripheral nerve. J Anat 195:563–576CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Chentanez V, Agthong S, Huanmanop T, Pairoh S, Kaewsema A (2010) Morphometric analysis of the human superficial radial nerve. Anat Sci Int 85(3):167–170CrossRefPubMed

Chomiak T, Hu B (2009). What is the optimal value of the g-ratio for myelinated fibers in the rat CNS? A theoretical approach. PLoS One 13;4(11):e7754

Drury RAB, Wallington EA (1980) Carleton’s histological technique, 5th edn. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 143–144

Fahrenkamp I, Friede RL (1987) Characteristic variations of relative myelin sheath thickness in 11 nerves of the rat. Anat Embryol 177:115–121CrossRefPubMed

Friede RL, Beuche W (1985) Combined scatter diagrams of sheath thickness and fibr ecalibre in human sural nerves: changes with age and neuropathy. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiat 48:749–756CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Jacobs JM, Love S (1985) Qualitative and quantitative morphology of human sural nerve at different ages. Brain 108:897–924CrossRefPubMed

Jeronimo A, Jeronimo CA, Rodrigues Filho OA, Sanada LS, Fazan VP (2008) A morphometric study on the longitudinal and lateral symmetry of the sural nerve in mature and aging female rats. Brain Res 1222:51–60CrossRefPubMed

Johansson CS, Stenström M, Hildebrand C (1996) Target influence on aging of myelinated sensory nerve fibers. Neurob Aging 17:61–66CrossRef

Kovačić U, Bajrović FF (2009) Chapter 26: age-related differences in the reinnervation after peripheral nerve injury. Int Rev Neurobiol 87:465–482CrossRefPubMed

Malik RA, Veves A, Walker D et al (2001) Sural nerve fibre pathology in diabetic patients with mild neuropathy: relationship to pain, quantitative sensory testing and peripheral nerve electrophysiology. Acta Neuropathol 101:367–374PubMed

Melcangi RC, Magnaghi V, Martini L (2000) Aging in peripheral nerves: regulation of myelin proteingenes by steroid hormones. Prog Neurobiol 60:291–308CrossRefPubMed

Muratori L, Ronchi G, Raimondo S, Giacobini-Robecchi MG, Fornaro M, Geuna S (2012) Can regenerated nerve fibers return to normal size? A long-term post-traumatic study of the rat median nerve crush injury model. Microsurgery 32(5):383–387CrossRefPubMed

O`Sallivan DJ, Swallow M (1968) The fibre size and content of the radial and sural nerves. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 31:464–470CrossRef

Peters A (2002) The efects of normal aging on myelin and nerve fibers: a review. J Neurocytol 31:581–593CrossRefPubMed

Rushton WA (1951) A theory of the effects of fibre size in medullated nerve. J Physiol 115(1):101–122CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Sanada LS, da Rocha Kalil AL, Tavares MR, Neubern MC, Salgado HC, Fazan VP (2012) Sural nerve involvement in experimental hypertension: morphology and morphometry in male and female normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). BMC Neurosci. 2:13–24

Soltanpour N, AsghariVostacolaee Y, Pourghasem M (2012) Comparison of morphometric aspects of light and electron microscopy of the hypoglossal nerve between young and aged male wistar rats. Cell J 13(4):229–236PubMedPubMedCentral

Thomas PK, Ochoa J (1984) Microscopic anatomy of the peripheral nervous system. In: Dyck PJ, Thomas PK (eds) Peripheral neurophathy, 2nd edn. Saunders, London, pp 39–91

Tohgi H, Tsukagaoshi H, Toyokura Y (1977) Quantitative changes with age in normal sural nerves. Acta Neuropathol 38:213–220CrossRefPubMed

Verdu E, Ceballos D, Vilches JJ, Navarro X (2000) Influence of aging on peripheral nerve function and regeneration. J Peripher Nerv Syst 5:191–208CrossRefPubMed

Title: Morphometric analysis of the diameter and g-ratio of the myelinated nerve fibers of the human sciatic nerve during the aging process
Authors: Sladjana Ugrenović
Ivan Jovanović
Ljiljana Vasović
Braca Kundalić
Rade Čukuranović
Vladisav Stefanović
Publication date: 01-06-2016
Publisher: Springer Japan
Published in: Anatomical Science International / Issue 3/2016
Print ISSN: 1447-6959
Electronic ISSN: 1447-073X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12565-015-0287-9

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

Springer Medicine

Morphometric analysis of the diameter and g-ratio of the myelinated nerve fibers of the human sciatic nerve during the aging process

Abstract

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 3/2016

Biometric measurements involving the terminal portion of the thoracic duct on left cervical level IV: an anatomic study

Morphometric characteristics of caudal cranial nerves at petroclival region in fetuses

The cricothyroid joint in elderly Japanese individuals

Iulius Casserius: revolutionary anatomist, teacher and pioneer of the sixteenth and seventeenth century

Abnormal veins around the heart with the closure of the coronary sinus ostium

Effects of Ginko biloba leaf extract on the neurogenesis of the hippocampal dentate gyrus in the elderly mice