Small nerve fibre involvement in hypothyroidism: a comparative study using skin punch biopsies and immunostaining 2005 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor)Student thesis

Abstract [en]

The purpose of this study was to examine if the disease hypothyroidism affects the nerve fibres in the skin. Hypothyroidism is an under-function of the thyroid gland, which leads to a lowered metabolism in most of the body’s cells (Guyton, 1981). Many hypothyroid patients experience neuropathic type pain in their lower extremities (Massey, 2002). Since neuropathies usually are characterized by a decreased number of nerve fibres (Hsieh et al., 2000), we expected to find a reduced number of nerve fibres in the skin punch biopsies from hypothyroid patients when compared to control group biopsies. Skin punch biopsies from 44 individuals were cut using a cryostat and immunostained with the neuronal marker PGP 9.5. The sections were then viewed in a fluorescence microscope, and all nerve fibres crossing the dermis-epidermis border were quantified. Statistic calculations showed that the patients had significantly less nerve fibres than the control group individuals (p<0.001).

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages

2005.

Keywords [en]

hypothyroidism, nerve fibres, neuropathies, skin punch biopsies, PGP 9.5, fluorescence microscope

Identifiers

URN: urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-13022Local ID: U12092OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hh-13022DiVA, id: diva2:368191

Uppsok

Life Earth Science

Note

Denna uppsats kan beställas från arkivet / This paper can be ordered from the archive. Kontakta / Contact: arkivet@hh.seAvailable from: 2010-11-09 Created: 2010-11-09Bibliographically approved

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School of Business and Engineering (SET)

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