Influence of age on regeneration in the peripheral nervous system

Studies on the influence of age on regeneration in the peripheral nervous system are reviewed. Observations in the human are limited, but clinical experience indicates that the efficiency of regeneration is less in later life. The results of experimental studies in animals, although sometimes variable, indicate a decline with age. This may be correlated with reduced axonal transport. At motor nerve terminals, the capacity to produce ultraterminal sprouting secondary to partial denervation is reduced, but not the capacity to eliminate terminal sprouts or reinnervation. Frequency and accuracy of reoccupation of the sites of motor nerve terminals are impaired. Nerve transection is more likely to result in loss of the parent neurons following nerve transection in young than in older animals. Chromatolysis is more intense and does not return to normal as rapidly in old animals, and the degree of retrograde axonal atrophy is less. This suggests a diminished dependence on peripheral growth factor support. Copyright (C) 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel.