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Defected Peripheral Nervous System Essay

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The injuries of nervous system affect many people every year and is estimated that spinal cord injuries alone affect 10,000 each year. Nerve regeneration can be achieved by production of new neurons, glia, axons, myelin, or synapses. There are differences between the functional mechanisms of peripheral nervous system (PNS) and the central nervous system (CNS). PNS has an intrinsic ability for repair and regeneration while CNS usually is incapable of self-repair and regeneration. There is currently no treatment for recovering human nerve function after injury to the CNS. Although, PNS has self-regeneration capacity, much research still needs to be performed for optimizing the environment for maximum regrowth. Injury to PNS immediately elicits the migration of phagocytes, Schwann cells, and macrophages to the lesion site in order to clear away debris such as damaged tissue [56-60]. …show more content…

Generally, two surface molecules including complement receptor type 3 (CR3) and galactose-specific lectin MAC-2 are involved in Wallerian degeneration process and consequently the peripheral nerve regeneration. However, injury to CNS is not followed by extensive regeneration. It is limited by the inhibitory influences of the glial and extracellular environment. The environment within the CNS, especially following trauma, counteracts the repair of myelin and neurons. Growth factors are not expressed or re-expressed; for instance, the extracellular matrix is free of laminin, so glial scars rapidly form and produce factors that inhibit re-myelination and axon repair. The axons themselves also lose the potential for growth with age due to a decrease in the expression of

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