Molecular markers used for assessment of early sciatic nerve injury
Key points
- Substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide are the main neuropeptides in peripheral nerve ganglia, which can anterogradely transmit nociceptive information to the central nervous system.
- The term sciatica is commonly used to describe pain traveling in the distribution of the sciatic nerve - so it's more accurate to say that it's a symptom of a spinal disorder (not a spinal disorder itself).
- The pain from sciatic nerve compression may be dull, sharp, burning, or accompanied by intermittent shocks of shooting pain beginning in the buttock traveling downward into the back or side of the thigh and/or leg.
- (1) Substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide expression in dorsal root ganglia were altered over time in rats with sciatic nerve injury.
Substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide are the main neuropeptides in peripheral nerve ganglia, which can anterogradely transmit nociceptive information to the central nervous system. In a study by Dr. Changma Fu and co-workers from First Hospital of Anhui Medical University in China, a model of sciatic nerve defect was prepared by dissecting the sciatic nerve at the middle, left femur in female Sprague Dawley rats. The two ends of the nerve were encased in a silica gel tube. L5 dorsal root ganglia were harvested 7, 14 and 28 days post sciatic nerve injury for immunohistochemical staining.
Results showed that substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide expression increased significantly in dorsal root ganglion of rats with sciatic nerve injury. This increase peaked at 7 days, declined at 14 days, and reduced to normal levels by 28 days post injury. These findings published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 33, 2013) suggest that these neuropeptides may possibly serve as an index for evaluating early peripheral nerve injury.
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Article: " Substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide expression in dorsal root ganglia in sciatic nerve injury rats " by Changma Fu1, Zongsheng Yin1, Defu Yu1, Zuhua Yang2 (1 Department of Orthopedics, First Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, Anhui Province, China; 2 Third Clinical College, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230022, Anhui Province, China)
Fu CM, Yin ZS, Yu DF, Yang ZH. Substance P and calcitonin gene-related peptide expression in dorsal root ganglia in sciatic nerve injury rats. Neural Regen Res. 2013;8(33):3124-3130.
Is Sciatica a Spinal Disorder or a Symptom of a Spinal Disorder?
The term sciatica is commonly used to describe pain traveling in the distribution of the sciatic nerve - so it's more accurate to say that it's a symptom of a spinal disorder (not a spinal disorder itself). The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the human body, about the diameter of a finger. Before jumping into the symptoms associated with sciatica, it's helpful to have an idea of where the sciatic nerve is and what it does.
Sciatic nerve fibers begin at the 4th and 5th lumbar vertebra (L4, L5) and the first few segments of the sacrum. The nerve passes through the sciatic foramen just below the piriformis muscle (rotates the thigh laterally), to the back of the extension of the hip and to the lower part of the gluteus maximus (muscle in the buttock, helps with thigh extension).
The sciatic nerve then runs vertically downward into the back of the thigh, behind the knee and branches into the hamstring muscles (calf) and further downward to the feet.
Sciatica Symptoms
Sciatica symptoms usually affect one side of the body.
Written and revised by
Andrey Nailor, M.D.
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