Glial bundles in spinal nerve roots: a form of isomorphic gliosis at the junction of the central and peripheral nervous system

Abstract

A morphologic study of the spinal nerve roots was undertaken in three cases of Werdnig-Hoffmann disease to investigate the phenomenon of glial bundle formation. The glial elements extended along the ventral roots as discrete cylindrical bundles comprising a large number of parallel astrocytic processes and sparsely scattered cell bodies all enclosed by a basal lamina. The bundles tapered off at a variable distance from the root exit zones. The early stage of glial bundle formation was characterized by the protrusion of astrocytes into the neurilemmal tubes containing degenerated myelinated axons. It was concluded that axonal degeneration, evoking a glial reaction, was the initial event in this process. Subsequently, the reactive astrocytes from the vicinity of the root exit zones enter the neurilemmal tubes previously occupied by myelinated axons and migrated into the domain of the peripheral nervous system in an orderly fashion. Thus glial bundle formation might be considered a special form of isomorphic gliosis occurring in Werdnig-Hoffmann disease and also in several other conditions all sharing a common feature, namely, degeneration of axons within the spinal nerve roots.