Sensory tract abnormality in the chick model of spina bifida

Spina bifida aperta (SBA) is an open neural tube defect that occurs during the embryonic period. We created SBA chicks by incising the roof plate of the neural tube in the embryo. The area of the dorsal funiculus was smaller in the SBA chicks than in the normal controls. Additionally, the SBA group had fewer nerve fibres in the dorsal funiculus than the normal controls. The pathway of the ascending sensory nerves was revealed by tracing the degenerated nerve fibres using osmification. We cut the sciatic nerve (L5) of the control and SBA chicks at the central end of the dorsal root ganglion 1 day after hatching and fixed the tissue 3 days later. Degenerated sensory nerve fibres were observed in the ipsilateral dorsal funiculus in the control chicks. In contrast, degenerated sensory nerve fibres were observed in the ipsilateral and contralateral dorsal, ventral and lateral funiculi of the spinal cord in the SBA chicks. Consequently, fewer sensory nerve fibres ascended to the thoracic dorsal funiculus in the SBA chicks than in the normal controls. This is the first report of abnormal changes in the ascending sensory nerve fibres in SBA.