Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Alters Axon Schwann Cell Units and Promotes Myelination in Unmyelinated Nerve Fibers

Table 1.

Numbers of myelinated and unmyelinated axons in control and rhGDNF-treated rats

Animal 1 Animal 2 Animal 3 Animal 4
Vehicle-treated 10,804 (18,465) 9,089 (13,075) 11,191 (18,259) 9,888 (18,282)
rhGDNF-treated 15,718 (18,276) 10,473 (16,738) 15,717 (17,511) 13,246 (15,738)
  • The numbers of myelinated and unmyelinated (in parentheses) axons per nerve in vehicle control or rhGDNF-injected animals at 4 weeks are shown. There was an increase in the number of myelinated axons in rhGDNF-treated rats (p = 0.038). The differences in the number of unmyelinated axons were not statistically significant (p = 0.978). Myelinated axons were counted at 1000× magnification using unbiased stereological methods and Bioquantsoftware. Unmyelinated axons were counted at 5000× magnification using unbiased sampling methods.

  1. The Journal of Neuroscience vol. 23 no. 2 561-567
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