On the occurrence of the fenestrated vessels in Wallerian degeneration of the peripheral nerve

Summary Ultrastructural studies were made on the distal segments of the mouse phrenic nerve after crush injury. In the control, endoneurium contained only unfenestrated capillaries. In the experiment, from day 2 to day 6, endoneurial capillaries occasionally showed fenestrations with the attenuation of its cytoplasm. At this stage, axonal degeneration and myelin breakdown became evident showing early stage of Wallerian degeneration. In addition, detachment of the neighboring endothelial cells concomitant with the invasion of macrophage was also observed. These findings were previously unobserved changes of the endoneurial endothelium in Wallerian degeneration. The significance of the early occurrence of fenestrae was discussed briefly.