Posttraumatic autoimmune reaction in peripheral nerve: effect of two successive injuries at different locations

We studied the influence of previous nerve damage on the evolution of recovery that follows a second nerve injury. Recovery from nerve injury was assessed by analyzing rats' foot prints during a 74-day period. In addition, at the end of this period, the surgically treated sciatic nerves were immunohistochemically stained for the presence of immunoglobulins, an indicator of an autoimmune reaction. We found there was a moderately adverse effect of previous nerve damage on the sciatic functional recovery, a fact that suggests some systemic response to the distantly placed initial damage. Immunohistochemical staining showed various degrees of immunoglobulin deposition depending on the type of the two injuries. An interpretation of our results is proposed.