Renaut bodies contain elastic fiber components

Renaut bodies (RB) are fusiform endoneurial structures preferentially found at sites of nerve entrapment, often occupying more than 30% of the cross-sectional area of a nerve fascicle. Their composition and significance, however, are still incompletely understood. In this study, further evidence for the link between the appearance of RB and nerve entrapment is presented. Reanaut bodies were already found at the age of 1 year in the median nerve at the level of the wrist, i.e. in the carpal tunnel, a possible site of entrapment. Here, their number increased with age. Renaut bodies were absent, however, in fetal nerves at this site. Many of the cells in RB resembled perineurial cells or pericytes. They were stained with antibodies against vimentin and epithelial membrane antigen and were partially covered by a basal lamina reactive with antibodies against collagen IV, laminin, and s-laminin. Focally accumulated filaments and bundles of 30-40 nm collagen fibrils were major extracellular components of RB. The diameter of the filaments (8-12 nm) corresponded to the size of the microfibril, i.e. the oxytalan component of elastic fibers. Renaut bodies were intensely stained with antibodies against these microfibrils and several types of collagen glycoproteins. On the basis of these results, we conclude that RB are composed of cells that show perineurial differentiation. These cells produce an extracellular matrix highly enriched in elastic fiber components.