Effects of sciatic nerve crush on the L7 spinal roots and dorsal root ganglia in kittens

The number and size distribution of axons and neurons were examined in the L7 spinal roots and ganglia of kittens 14 to 220 days after early postnatal sciatic nerve crush. The results show that motoraxons in the ventral root as well as axons and perikarya of sensory neurons in the dorsal root remained growth-retarded throughout the examined period. This was most evident in the dorsal root. Both ventral and dorsal roots showed some loss of myelinated axons, but this was only half that previously observed after sciatic nerve resection. Whereas in the dorsal roots and dorsal root ganglia the loss seemed to be nonselective with respect to size, axons in the gamma range were primarily affected in the ventral roots. In the dorsal roots the proportion of unmyelinated axons was comparable with controls but in the ventral roots it was somewhat elevated. In most cases the loss of dorsal root ganglion neurons was relatively greater than the decrease of dorsal root axons.