A study of the perineurium in peripheral nerve pathology.

The response of the perineurium to the following experimental systems was investigated by light and electron microscopy: nerve crush, cold lesion and microinjection of (a) histamine liberator, (b) potassium cyanide, (c) lysophosphatidyl choline (LPC). Where myelin breakdown occurred, lipid globules were seen within Schwann cells, macrophages and also perineurial cells. Where increased vascular permeability occurred, proteinaceous material leaked from endoneurial vessels into the endoneurial space and later appeared between perineurial laminae. It is suggested that the normal homeostatic function of the perineurium is extended in pathology to the removal of protein and lipid debris. In this way the perineurium contributes to the restoration of the normal microenvironment of peripheral nerve fibres.