Parabiotic reinnervation: surgical technic and animal care

A technic called parabiotic reinnervation was developed to test the hypothesis that a derangement of the trophic function normally exerted by a nerve on a muscle is an element in the pathogenesis of muscular dystrophy in the 129/ReJ dydy mouse. The technic involves the reinnervation of the muscles of the anterior compartment of the hind limb of 1 animal (the recipient) by the peroneal nerve of another animal (the donor). Survival of the parabiosed animals depends on attention to nutrition and cage environment.