TY - JOUR
T1 - Skin and self-injury
T2 - A possible link between peripheral innervation and immune function?
AU - Symons, Frank J
AU - Gilles, Elizabeth
AU - Tervo, Raymond
AU - Wendelschafer-Crabb, Gwen
AU - Panoutsopoulou, Ioanna
AU - Kennedy, William R
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Mac Keith Press.
PY - 2015/7/1
Y1 - 2015/7/1
N2 - The aim of this preliminary case study series was to investigate epidermal innervation in pediatric patients with significant neurological impairment and self-injurious behavior. We enrolled four pediatric patients with self-injury (two males, two females; mean age 12y, range 9-14y) and used archival specimens from healthy, age-matched children with typical development for comparison purposes. Epidermal nerve fiber density, peptide content, and mast cell degranulation patterns from non-damaged skin were tested between the patients and the comparison group. The male patients with self-injury had significantly increased epidermal nerve fiber densities, increased substance P positive fiber count and extensive mast cell degranulation compared with sex- and age-matched individuals with typical development. Our case series shows for the first time altered peripheral innervation from non-damaged tissue in children with significant self-injury and developmental disability compared with a healthy comparison group. Establishing the role of peripheral nociceptive and immune modulatory neural pathways may offer new treatment avenues for this devastating neurobehavioral disorder.
AB - The aim of this preliminary case study series was to investigate epidermal innervation in pediatric patients with significant neurological impairment and self-injurious behavior. We enrolled four pediatric patients with self-injury (two males, two females; mean age 12y, range 9-14y) and used archival specimens from healthy, age-matched children with typical development for comparison purposes. Epidermal nerve fiber density, peptide content, and mast cell degranulation patterns from non-damaged skin were tested between the patients and the comparison group. The male patients with self-injury had significantly increased epidermal nerve fiber densities, increased substance P positive fiber count and extensive mast cell degranulation compared with sex- and age-matched individuals with typical development. Our case series shows for the first time altered peripheral innervation from non-damaged tissue in children with significant self-injury and developmental disability compared with a healthy comparison group. Establishing the role of peripheral nociceptive and immune modulatory neural pathways may offer new treatment avenues for this devastating neurobehavioral disorder.
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U2 - 10.1111/dmcn.12580
DO - 10.1111/dmcn.12580
M3 - Article
C2 - 25185892
AN - SCOPUS:84930749876
SN - 0012-1622
VL - 57
SP - 677
EP - 680
JO - Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
JF - Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology
IS - 7
ER -