Spherical bodies, roughly 10 micro m in diameter, which have not been reported before, were found in the peripheral nerve axons of specimens collected during post-mortem examination of leprosy patients. These bodies were found in the fascicles of all peripheral nerves of the extremities examined (median, radial, ulnar, peroneal and sciatic nerves). Their incidence was not related to the type of leprosy. The area immediately below the thickened perineurium, a feature associated with leprosy, often showed a large number of spherical bodies. When observed under a transmission electron microscope, the spherical lesions often showed a lamellar structure, although some of them were amorphous. No structure resembling organelles was seen within the bodies. Observation with the merge technique showed a clearly lamellar structure in most of the spherical bodies. These bodies and the surrounding myelin sheaths were partially polarized. The axonal spherical bodies observed in our study seem to represent lesions gradually formed due to glycoprotein denaturation over long periods of time and to be associated with leprosy-caused thickening of the perineurium of peripheral nerves.
BT - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15301587?dopt=Abstract DA - 2004 Jun DO - 10.1489/1544-581X(2004)072<0159:ASBITP>2.0.CO;2 IS - 2 J2 - Int. J. Lepr. Other Mycobact. Dis. LA - eng N2 -Spherical bodies, roughly 10 micro m in diameter, which have not been reported before, were found in the peripheral nerve axons of specimens collected during post-mortem examination of leprosy patients. These bodies were found in the fascicles of all peripheral nerves of the extremities examined (median, radial, ulnar, peroneal and sciatic nerves). Their incidence was not related to the type of leprosy. The area immediately below the thickened perineurium, a feature associated with leprosy, often showed a large number of spherical bodies. When observed under a transmission electron microscope, the spherical lesions often showed a lamellar structure, although some of them were amorphous. No structure resembling organelles was seen within the bodies. Observation with the merge technique showed a clearly lamellar structure in most of the spherical bodies. These bodies and the surrounding myelin sheaths were partially polarized. The axonal spherical bodies observed in our study seem to represent lesions gradually formed due to glycoprotein denaturation over long periods of time and to be associated with leprosy-caused thickening of the perineurium of peripheral nerves.
PY - 2004 SP - 159 EP - 65 T2 - International journal of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases : official organ of the International Leprosy Association TI - Axonal spherical bodies in the peripheral nerves of leprosy patients. UR - http://ila.ilsl.br/pdfs/v72n2a07.pdf VL - 72 SN - 0148-916X ER -