Cellular Biology of the Experimental Peripheral Nerve Lesion

The interruption of the continuity of axons, such as may occur with spinal or cranial nerve injury or as a result of compression or inflammation, leads to characteristic retrograde changes in the cell bodies of the affected neurons. These changes are part of a regenerative process which involves not only the lesioned neurons but also their microenvironment. Although regeneration may result in the anatomical restitution of a lesioned nerve, i.e., by neurite outgrowth and reinnervation of the musculature, functional recovery does not always take place.