Tumor necrosis factor-alpha in peripheral nerve lesions.

Immunocytochemical expression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) was examined in nerve biopsy samples of patients with various disorders, focusing on nerve injury. TNF-alpha was mainly associated with phagocytosing macrophages in acute axonal injury, but the staining was more frequently seen in sections from patients with vasculitis than with metabolic neuropathy. Ramifield macrophages outside nerve fibers were also positive for TNF-alpha in the acute stage of vasculitis. In active demyelinating lesions from patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy (CIDP), macrophages outside nerve fibers showed weak staining with TNF-alpha, but the cells adhering to myelinated nerve fibers showed definite staining. This may be due, in part, to the smouldering course of CIDP, and expression may be up-regulated transiently during the demyelinating process. These results indicate that macrophages, as the effector cells for both axonal injury and active demyelination, express TNF-alpha, buth their activation mechanisms may vary among vasculitis, metabolic axonopathy and inflammatory demyelination.