Experimental thalidomide neuropathy: the morphological correlate of reduced conduction velocity

Morphological studies of experimental thalidomide neuropathy have thus far failed to show any significant structural changes. The present investigation was performed on sural nerves of female New Zealand white rabbits showing a reduction of sensory conduction velocity after oral treatment with thalidomide (100 mg/kg b. wt. per day) for a period of 33 weeks. Rabbits of the same strain and equal sex, weight, and number served as controls. Very few nerve fibers were undergoing Wallerian degeneration in both groups, experimental animals and controls. Morphometry, however, revealed a statistically significant reduction of the mean myelin thickness of sural nerve fibers in the thalidomide group of rabbits as compared to controls. The mean myelin thickness of the largest nerve fibers was also significantly smaller than in the control group. On the other hand, axonal diameters were not significantly altered. The association between the decrease of the sensory conduction velocity, the reduction of the myelin sheath thickness, and the chronic thalidomide application is discussed.