Observations on the blood and perineurial permeability barriers of surviving nerve allografts in immunodeficient and immunosuppressed rats.

The authors investigate whether there are any permeability changes in the endoneurial blood-nerve barrier and the perineurium-nerve barrier of surviving nerve allografts. In a normal nerve, the blood-nerve barrier regulates the passage of substances from endoneurial blood vessels into the endoneurium, whereas the perineurium-nerve barrier protects the endoneurium from agents that escape from permeable epineurial vessels and accumulate around the nerve. Nerves from ACI rats were transplanted into immunologically deficient nude rats or normal Fischer rats immunosuppressed with cyclosporin A. None of the nerve allografts was rejected. The blood-nerve barrier of nerve allografts at 2 and 6 weeks postoperatively was permeable to intravenously injected horseradish peroxidase, which spread into endoneurial tissue. Electron microscopy revealed that horseradish peroxidase escaped from endoneurial vessels through intercellular junctions between endothelial cells. At 24 weeks, the blood-nerve barrier of nerve allografts had recovered and the endoneurial vessels, like those in normal nerves, were impermeable to horseradish peroxidase. The perineurium-nerve barrier of nerve allografts remained impermeable to horseradish peroxidase at all times. Axons were grouped into numerous minifascicles at nerve anastomosis zones at 24 weeks. Each nerve fascicle was surrounded by an impermeable perineurium. These results demonstrate that regenerated axons in long-term surviving nerve allografts and at anastomosis zones are protected by permeability barriers. It is concluded that permeability barriers of nerve allografts are not permanently altered by a foreign environment (grafts to nude rats) even when immunosuppression with cyclosporin A is required to prevent allograft rejection (grafts to Fischer rats).