Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33985539›Full record

ArticleJournal of translational medicine2021

Identification of sensory and motor nerve fascicles by immunofluorescence staining after peripheral nerve injury.

Xijie Zhou, Jian Du, Liming Qing, Thomas Mee, Xiang Xu, Zhuoran Wang, Cynthia Xu, Xiaofeng Jia

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of translational medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
1.9field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

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  4. Femoral to sciatic nerve transfer: A cadaver study.Surgical neurology international · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Xijie ZhouDepartment of Orthopaedics, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children'S Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325027, China.
Jian DuDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 10 South Pine Street, MSTF Building 823, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
Liming QingDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 10 South Pine Street, MSTF Building 823, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
Thomas MeeDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 10 South Pine Street, MSTF Building 823, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
Xiang XuDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 10 South Pine Street, MSTF Building 823, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
Zhuoran WangDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 10 South Pine Street, MSTF Building 823, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
Cynthia XuDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 10 South Pine Street, MSTF Building 823, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA.
Xiaofeng JiaDepartment of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 10 South Pine Street, MSTF Building 823, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA. xjia@som.umaryland.edu.ORCID 0000-0003-1445-8525
University of Maryland, Baltimore · US

Funding

Stem Cell Surface Modification to Promote Nerve RegenerationR01NS117102 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · PI Xiaofeng Jia · 2021 to 2026
$2.0M
NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS117102
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInappropriate matching of motor and sensory fibers after nerve repair or nerve grafting can lead to failure of nerve recovery. Identification of motor and sensory fibers is important for the development of new approaches that facilitate neural regeneration and the next generation of nerve signal-controlled neuro-prosthetic limbs with sensory feedback technology. Only a few methods have been reported to differentiate sensory and motor nerve fascicles, and the reliability of these techniques is unknown. Immunofluorescence staining is one of the most commonly used methods to distinguish sensory and motor nerve fibers, however, its accuracy remains unknown.

methodsIn this study, we aim to determine the efficacy of popular immunofluorescence markers for motor and sensory nerve fibers. We harvested the facial (primarily motor fascicles) and sural (primarily sensory fascicles) nerves in rats, and examined the immunofluorescent staining expressions of motor markers (choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), tyrosine kinase (TrkA)), and sensory markers [neurofilament protein 200 kDa (NF-200), calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and Transient receptor potential vanillic acid subtype 1 (TRPV1)]. Three methods, including the average area percentage, the mean gray value, and the axon count, were used to quantify the positive expression of nerve markers in the immunofluorescence images.

resultsOur results suggest the mean gray value method is the most reliable method. The mean gray value of immunofluorescence in ChAT (63.0 ± 0.76%) and TRKA (47.6 ± 0.43%) on the motor fascicles was significantly higher than that on the sensory fascicles (ChAT: 49.2 ± 0.72%, P < 0.001; and TRKA: 29.1 ± 0.85%, P < 0.001). Additionally, the mean gray values of TRPV1 (51.5 ± 0.83%), NF-200 (61.5 ± 0.62%) and CGRP (37.7 ± 1.22%) on the motor fascicles were significantly lower than that on the sensory fascicles respectively (71.9 ± 2.32%, 69.3 ± 0.46%, and 54.3 ± 1.04%) (P < 0.001). The most accurate cutpoint occurred using CHAT/CRCP ratio, where a value of 0.855 had 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity to identify motor and sensory nerve with an area under the ROC curve of 1.000 (P < 0.001).

conclusionsA combination of ChAT and CGRP is suggested to distinguish motor and sensory nerve fibers.

Indexed as

Peripheral Nerve InjuriesAnimalsNerve RegenerationRatsReproducibility of ResultsStaining and LabelingImmunofluorescence stainingMotor fasciclesPeripheral nerveSensory fascicles

Identifiers

PMID33985539
PMCPMC8117274
OpenAlexW3163629249

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.