Figure 4

Sympathetic and peptidergic nerve fibre association with proNGF. A) DβH-IR sympathetic efferents (red) were closely associated with proNGF (green) in sham operated control animals. B-C) At 1 and 2 weeks post-injury, no detectable difference was observed in the pattern of sympathetic efferent distribution with respect to proNGF. D) At 4 weeks post-lesion sprouted sympathetic efferents retained their association with proNGF, and continued to sprout towards the dermo-epidermal junction. E) In sham-operated rats, peptidergic afferents were distributed along the dermo-epidermal junction in which the occasional group of proNGF immunoreactive cells was found. F) At 1 week following nerve injury, very few peptidergic afferents were observed. G) At 2 weeks post-injury, peptidergic afferents were found along the dermo-epidermal junction as well as along proNGF immunoreactive cells (arrow). H) At 4 weeks post-lesion, peptidergic afferents increased in numbers were loosely associated with proNGF-IR cells (arrow).