Regeneration of putative sensory and sympathetic cutaneous nerve endings in the rat foot after sciatic nerve injury.

The present study examines the occurrence of calcitonin gene-related peptide-, substance P- and tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive profiles in glabrous and hairy foot skin from normal and nerve-injured rats. After neurotomy/suture, glabrous skin samples contain few calcitonin gene-related peptide-, substance P- and tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive profies. The number of calcitonin gene-related peptide- and substance P-like immunoreacive profiles in the epidermis is significantly subnormal. Hairy skin from these rats does also contain few calcitonin gene-related peptide-, substance P- and tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive profiles. In addition, the presence of epidermal calcitonin gene-related peptide-like imunoreactive profiles in glabrous skin is subnormal on the contralateral side. After nerve crush injury, the occurrence of calcitonin gene-related peptide-like, but not substance P-like, immunoreactive profiles in th epidermis of the glabrous skin is significantly subnormal. The occurrence of tyrosine hylase-like immnunoreactive fibres in relation to the digital artery is also subnormal. The occurrence in hairy skin of calcitonin gene-related peptide-like immunoreactive, substance P-like immunoreactive and tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive profiles is subnormal. In both skin types, the contralateral occurrence of such profiles is subjectively normal. These results show that the occurrence of calcitonin gene-related peptide-, substance P-, and tyrosine hydroxylase-like immunoreactive profiles in glabrous and hairy foot skin is clearly subnormal after neurotomy and suture and less abnormal after nerve crush. After neurotomy and suture the contralateral side is also affected.